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AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP. 


WITH  AN   INTRODUCTORY   ESSAY 

BY    R.    JEFFERY. 


SHELDON    AND    COMPANY. 

BOSTON:  GOULD  AND  LINCOLN. 

1868. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1868,  by 

SHELDON  AND  COMPANY, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


Stereotyped  at  the  Boston  Stereotype  Foundry, 
No.  19  Spring  Lane. 


PREFACE. 


AFTER  Elder  Jacob  Knapp  had  concluded  to  go  to  Cali- 
fornia, and  spend  the  winter  in  holding  protracted  meetings 
in  that  distant  State,  he  engaged  me  to  revise  and  pre- 
pare his  manuscripts  for  publication.  In  the  mean  time  he 
was  called  away  from  home,  and  I  have  been  unable  to 
consult  him,  even  by  letter.  This  fact  has  enhanced  the 
delicacy  and  responsibility  of  my  undertaking.  It  was  not 
intended  that  I  should  prepare  an  original  work,  but  simply 
edit  the  papers  which  the  Elder  might  place  in  my  hands. 

I  have,  therefore,  aimed  to  restrict  myself  to  this  service. 
I  have  not  sought  to  express  my  views,  to  use  my  illustra- 
tions, to  present  my  style,  but  his.  Knowing  that  his  long- 
continued  and  widely-extended  ministry  had  given  him  an 
established  reputation  for  originality  in  thought  and  ex- 
pression, I  have  endeavored  to  allow  him  to  state  his  own 
views  in  his  own  way.  Especially  have  I  refrained  from 
making  serious  modifications  of  his  sermons,  because  in 
them  the  reader  will  look  for  illustrations  of  those  char- 
acteristics of  power  which,  under  God,  have  made  his 

(iii) 


2054881 


iv  PREFACE. 

pulpit  effort's  so  effectual  in  attracting  and  fixing  the  at- 
tention of  the  throngs  that  have  waited  on  his  ministry. 

It  is  possible  that  in  the  mention  of  dates,  and  the 
spelling  of  proper  names,  the  work  will  contain  some 
mistakes,  as  in  these  particulars  I  have  followed  the 
manuscripts  before  me,  except  in  those  cases  where  my 
own  knowledge  of  the  references  has  enabled  me  to  act 
independently.  For  the  statements  of  occurrences  and  the 
views  of  doctrine  I  do  not  hold  myself  responsible. 

I  regret  that  the  limited  time  allotted  me  has  not  per- 
mitted me  to  execute  my  task  more  satisfactorily ;  but 
I  bring  my  labors  to  a-  close  with  the  conviction  that  the 
services  of  Elder  Knapp  deserve  an  elaborate  presentation, 
and  with  the  prayer  that  the  perusal  of  this  book  may 
make  him  a  blessing  to  those  who  have  never  seen  his 
face  or  heard  his  voice. 

E.  JEFFERY. 

CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS,  December,  1867. 


CONTENTS. 


EDITORIAL  PREFACE iii 

iNTRODUCTORr  ESSAY  —  ELDER  KjTAPP  AND  HIS   MINISTRY.         .      .       T 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 
INTRODUCTION 11 

CHAPTER   I. 

Birth,  Parentage,  and  early  Religious  Instructions.  — Experience  of 
Conviction  and  Conversion.  —  Backsliding.  —  Removal  West.  — 
Attending  School  in  the  East.  —  Ball-room  and  Prayer-meeting. 
—  Re-consecration.  —  Baptism 13 


CHAPTER   II. 

Return  Home. — Neighborhood  Efforts.  —  Choice  of  a  Calling. — 
Return  East  to  obtain  an  Education.  —  School  at  Masonville.  — 
Visit  to  Columbia  County,  and  Journey  back.  —  Academy  at  Gil- 
bertsville.  —  Economy.  —  A  Revival.  —  School-teaching  in  New- 
Lisbon. —  Conflicts  as  to  Duty.  —  Hamilton  Institution. — Li- 
censed to  preach.  —  Marriage  and  Pastorate  at  Springfield.  — 
Second  Pastorate  at  Watertown,  N.  Y.  —  Reflections  on  Ministe- 
rial Worldliness 19 

(3) 


4  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    III. 

Protracted  Meetings  a  Novelty.  —  Eesolution  to  become  an  Evan- 
gelist.—  Counting  the  Cost. —  Resignation  of  Pastorate.  —  Re- 
sults of  the  Labors  of  eighteen  Months  among  the  Churches.  — 
Trials.  —  Opposition.  —  Pecuniary  Losses.  —  Application  to  the 
State  Convention. — Application  rejected.  —  Mortification  of  Feel- 
ings. —  Fasting  and  Prayer.  —  God's  Presence  and  Direction.  — 
Blessed  Results.  —  Trust  in  God  for  Support.  —  Method  of  pre- 
paring Sermons.  —  Re-conversions  needful 28 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Forty  Years  ago.  —  No  Sunday  Schools. — No  Missionary  Enter- 
prise. —  Few  Educational  Institutions.  —  No  Liberality.  —  Anti- 
nomianisro.  —  Elder  Benedict.  —  Influence  of  Evangelism.  —  Op- 
position of  Hyper-Calvinism.  —  Spurious  Conversions.  —  Sudden 
Conversions.  —  A  doubting  Piety.  —  Jealousy.  —  Men-pleasers. — 
Early  Discipline.  —  Consolation.  —  Success.  —  Sympathizers.  — 
Change  of  Public  Opinion 36 

CHAPTER   V. 

Union  Meetings.  —  Why  discontinued.  —  Duty  of  Baptists.  —  Bless- 
ed Meetings.  — An  Answer  to  Prayer.  — Departed  Worthies.  — 
NORTH  RUTLAND  :  "  The  Bower  of  Prayer."  —  Deacon  Wood- 
ward and  the  Young  Men.  —  TURIN  :  Universalism.  —  A  Univer- 
salist  Mother.  —  Threatened  Suit.  —  Mr.  P.  —  CONSTABLEVILLE  : 
Barn  and  Pork-house.  —  Colonel  M.  —  A  Drunkard's  Wife.  — 
A  Vision 48 

CHAPTER   VI. 

RUTLAND  HILL  :  Holding  On.  —  Great  Results.  —  An  alarmed  Pro- 
fessor.—  A  good  Conscience.  —  "Old  Fogies."  —  A  new  Church. 

—  LORAINE  :  Suspension  of  Business.  —  Three  Meeting-Houses. 

—  A  Mother's  Command.  —  HANNIBAL  CENTRE  :  A  cold  Begin- 
ning. —  Universalist  Reporters.  —  A  drunken  Apostate.  —  OSWE- 


CONTENTS.  5 

GO  :  Peter  S.  Smith.  —  Power  of  Earnestness.  —  A  real  Eeligion. 
—  Kestitution CO 


CHAPTER   VII. 

AUBURN  :  A  Disturber.  —  Opposition.  —  Cowards.  —  Stage  Ride.  — 
A  Surprise.  —  PHOSNIXVILLE  :  Church  organized.  —  ITHACA  : 
Conversion  of  Mr.  M.  —  BKOOME  STREET,  NEW  YORK  CITY  : 
Hyper-Calvinism.  —  REMOVAL  TO  HAMILTON  :  Reasons.  ...  68 

CHAPTER   VIII.  ' 

BRIDGEWATER  :  A  Lawyer.  —  A  Ball.  —  A  Case  of  Prejudice.  — 
The  Presbyterian  Minister.  —  BENNINGTON,  VT.  :  Thirty-one 
Years  afterwards.  —  WATERVILLE  :  Distilleries.  —  Liquor  Deal- 
ers. —  Proposed  Attack 76 

CHAPTER    IX. 

HAMILTON  :  Fear  of  Men.  —  Co-laborers.  —  Results.  —  Day  of 
Small  Things.  —  PENNYAN  :  Large  Accessions.  —  Commotion 
among  the  Infidels.  —  Meeting-house  paid  for.  —  A  Cass  of  Con- 
viction. —  A  Legacy  of  Ministers 80 

CHAPTER    X. 

UTICA  :  Bethel  Church.  —  The  First  and  Second  Presbyterian 
Churches.  —  Conversions.  —  Baptist  Cause.  —  A  new  Church.  — 
Universalists.  —  SCHENECTADY  :  Union  of  Christians.  —  Union 
College.  —  Conversion  of  Students.  —  SENECA  FALLS  :  A  Re- 
conversion of  all  the  Churches.  —  BROOKLYN  :  Baptist  Cause,  fee- 
ble. —  Pillars  in  the  Church.  —  John  N.  Wilder.  —  Conversion 
of  an  Atheist.  —  Sisterly  Remonstrance.  —  Deacon  Colgate.  — 
General  Results 85 

CHAPTER    XI. 

ROCHESTER  :  Gamblers.  —  The  Mob.  —  Arrest.  —  Councils  of  the 
Wicke,d  brought  to  Nought.  —  BALTIMORE  :  General  Interest.  — 


CONTENTS. 

/ 

Church  strengthened.  —  Washingtonian  Temperance  Movement. 
—  Threatenings.  —  A  later  Meeting.  —  Letter  from  Dr.  Fuller.  . 


CHAPTEE    XII. 

ALBANY  :  Apprehensions.  -—  Cooperation.  —  Instances  of  Conver- 
sion. —  Liberality  and  Kevival.  —  A  Prodigal  Son.  —  A  Stranger. 

—  The  Shad  Story.  —  Preparation  of  the  Grounds.  —  State  Street 
Baptist  Church.  —  Unsuccessful  Pastorate.  —  NEW  YORK  CITY  : 
Baptist  Tabernacle.  —  A  Wonderful  Work.  —  A  Devoted  Mer- 
chant. —  New  York  Herald.  —  An  Infidel  converted.  —  A  Mag- 
dalene. —  The  Church  in  Perplexity.  —  Kesults.  —  Statement  of 
W.  W.  Everts.  —  HARTFORD  :  South  Baptist  Church.  —  A  Can- 
did Universalist.  —  The  Fiddler  at  a  Ball.  —  Zaccheus  at  a  Bap- 
tism. —  The  Infidel  Mocker.  —  The  Rum-seller  and  his  Victim. 

—  NEW   HAVEN  :    Union   Meetings.  —  Yale  College.  —  A  Gam- 
bling-house. —  Plets,  and  God's  Interpositions.  —  The  Billiard- 
room  Keepers.  —  Students'  Ball.  —  Church  Caution.  —  Baptist 
Progress 104 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

NEW  BEDFORD  :  A  Revival  in  the  Summer.  —  A  Caviller.  —  Power 
of  Endurance.  —  Earnestness.  —  PROVIDENCE  :  Want  of  Coop- 
eration. —  Dr.  Wayland.  —  Trial  of  Faith.  —  Increase  of  Inter- 
est. —  Lawsuit.  —  Results.  —  BOSTON  :  Five  Churches  united.  — 
Arduous  Labors.  —  Plain  Preaching.  —  Opposition.  —  Anxiety. 
—  Protests.  —  A  Mob.  —  A  Passage  of  Scripture.  —  Eagerness 
for  Salvation.  —  Closing  Meetings.  —  Disparagement.  —  Per- 
sonal Detraction.  —  J.  D.  Fulton's  Account.  .  120 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

LOWELL:  A  Universalist  Covenant  Meeting.  —  A  Cotton  Mill  an 
Inquiry-room.  —  Fifteen  Hundred  Converts.  —  A  Challenge  to 
Universalists.  —  Its  Acceptance,  and  the  Result.  —  Physical  Ex- 
haustion. —  An  Aged  Convert.  —  A  Farewell  Scene.  —  An  Infi- 


CONTENTS.  7 

del  Observer.  —  CONCORD  :  Excitement  among  Christians  and 
among  Scoffers.  —  An  Illustration.  —  Conversion  of  a  Univer- 
salist  Preacher.  —  Penitent  Scoffers.  • —  A  Refusal  to  baptize.  — 
Regrets.  —  Baptist  Influence.  —  The  Second  Advent.  —  State- 
ment of  E.  E.  Cummings ......  138 


CHAPTER    XV. 

SALEM  AND  MARBLEHEAD  :  Enlargement.  —  Conflict  over  a  Soul. 
—  A  Universalist  Prayer-meeting.  —  Leaving  Town.  —  WASH- 
INGTON :  A  small  Band.  —  Cooperation.  —  Dance-hall.  —  Pro- 
Slavery.  —  A  Remarkable  Conversion.  —  College  Students.  — 
E  Street  Church.  —  RICHMOND  :  Conditional  Invitation.  —  Re- 
spect for  Ministers.  —  An  unhealthy  Piety.  —  Slavery  Abomina- 
tions. —  A  Slave  Prayer-meeting,  and  Bloodhounds.  —  Remon- 
strance. —  Departure 148 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

ERIE  :  A  Universalist  Meddler  and  his  Pate.  —  An  Irish  Lad.  — 
Nineteen  Years  afterwards.  —  OWEGO  :  Philetus  Peck.  —  Dews 
of  Grace.  —  A  model  Church.  —  A  defiant  Infidel.  —  Wilfulness. 
—  Departed  Worthies 157 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

CHICAGO  :  First  Church  in  1849 ;  in  1857.  —  Conversions.  —  Invi- 
tation to  a  Ball.  —  Wabash  Avenue  Church.  —  Worldliness.  — 
ROCKTORD  :  Removal  to,  in  1849.  —  A  Year's  Labor  in  Rockford. 
—  CANTON:  In  1851.  — A  Mind  to  Work.  — The  Zeal  of  one 
Man.  —  Immediate  Baptisms.  —  "  Hell  upon  Earth."  ....  1C3 


CHAPTER    XVIII.       . 

ST.  Louis :  Sparks  from  the  One  Altar.  —  Disparagement.  —  Great 
Ingathering.  —  Giving  the  Hand  of  Fellowship.  —  A  new  Church 
formed.  —  Its  Dismemberment.  —  MIDDLETOWN:  Pecuniary  In- 


8  CONTENTS. 

ducements.  —  Hesitation  about  going.  —  Prayers  for  the  Devil.  — 
Obeying  Orders. — Kesults.  —  Meeting  in  1864.  —  Youngest  Son 
converted. — LOUISVILLE:  Sensitiveness  of  the  People  concern- 
ing Slavery.  —  Apprehensions.  —  Signs  of  Success.  —  A  Dream, 
and  its  Interpretation.  —  Notice  to  leave 1G8 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

BOSTON  :  Baldwin  Place  Church.  —  Changes  in  Nineteen  Years.  — 
Self-Examination.  —  Discouragements.  —  Union  Church.  —  Great 
Work.  —  A  genuine  Convert.  —  Presence  of  God.  —  Tremont 
Temple  Church.  —  Sinless  Perfection,  and  the  Lack  of  it.  —  Con- 
version of  a  Universalist  Preacher.  —  Farewell  Sermon  in  Bow- 
doin  Square  Church.  —  A  working  Church 175 

CHAPTER    XX. 

WILMINGTON  ;  A  former  Visit.  —  Present  Meeting  of  great^  Power. 
—  A  new  Church  started.  —  PHILADELPHIA  :  The  Bethel.  —  A 
floating  Church.  —  Many  Conversions.  —  The  Fourth  Baptist 
Church.  —  A  happy  Birthday.  —  Great  Results.  —  Interesting 
Conversions. — Valuable  Accessions.  —  NEWARK:  Harmonious 
Churches.  —  General  Interest.  —Union  Prayer-meeting.  —  ELIZ- 
ABETH :  A  Threefold  Call.  —  A  divine  Answer.  —  NEW  YORK 
CITY  :  A  Contrast.  —  Business  and  Religion.  —  A  Farewell  Ser- 
vice.— Labors  in  other  Places.  —  TRENTON:  Baptism  of  Chil- 
dren. —  Numerous  Conversions.  —  A  blessed  Season.  —  Reflec- 
tions. —  Going  to  California 181 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

Numbers  converted.  —  Baptized.  —  Answers  to  Questions.  —  Num- 
ber of  Meetings  held.  —  Of  Sermons  preached.  —  Of  Converts 
who  became  Ministers.  —  Amount  of  Compensation 190 


CONTENTS. 


VIEWS  ON  VARIOUS  SUBJECTS. 

I.     HONORARY   TITLES .  193 

II.    THOUGHTS  ON  MINISTERIAL  POWER 196 

III.  HOW  TO  GET  UP  A  REFORMATION 202 

IV.  COMPLAINTS     AGAINST     SPEEDY    ADMISSIONS 

CONSIDERED 208 

V.    THE  UTILITY  OF  ANXIOUS-SEATS 214 

VI.     HOW   TO   INSTRUCT   INQUIRERS 217 

VII.     ADVICE   TO   YOUNG   CONVERTS 222 

VIII.     ACTIVE   BENEVOLENCE 228 

IX.    RESTRICTED  AND  MIXED  COMMUNION.  .  237 


SERMONS. 

I.    LESSONS  TAUGHT  BY  THE  OX.     Isa.  i.  3 251 

II.     ENTHUSIASM.     Acts  xxvi.  24 272 

III.  THE   CALLS  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  Matt,  xxiii.  37.  .     .     .  284 

IV.  WHY  THE   WICKED   LIVE.     Deut.  xxxii.  85 301 

V.  THE  NEW  BIRTH.     Ezek.  xviii.  31.    Ps.  li.  10.                .  323 


APPENDIX. 

STATISTICAL   RESULTS    OF   ELDER  KNAPP'S   LABORS 
IN  MASSACHUSETTS.  .  335 


INTRODUCTORY  ESSAY. 


ELDER  KNAPP  AND  HIS  MINISTRY. 

EVANGELISM,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word,  means  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel  to  the  destitute  —  in  regions  where  its 
ordinary  ministrations  are  not  enjoyed. 

But,  in  modern  times,  the  term  has  acquired  a  modified 
application.  It  is  now  generally  used  to  designate  those  efforts 
in  connection  with,  or  in  excess  of,  the  ordinary  services,  by 
which  a  church  puts  forth  extraordinary  exertions  for  the  salva- 
tion of  men,  in  its  own  immediate  vicinity.  These  extraordinary 
services  consist,  for  the  most  part,  of  continuous  exercises  of 
preaching  and  prayer  for  several  successive  weeks,  during  which 
time  the  members  of  the  church  are  urged  to  unusual  exertions, 
in  order  to  awaken  the  interest  of  the  unconverted  around  them 
to  the  concerns  of  their  everlasting  well-being ;  while  the  public 
ministrations  are  intended  to  bring  men,  by  every  consideration 
and  motive  which  the  gospel  can  present,  to  an  immediate  sur- 
render of  their  hearts  to  the  authority  of  Christ  as  Lawgiver 
and  Savior. 

Experience  has  enabled  the  people  of  God  to  correct  many 
abuses  which  the  excitement  incident  to  such  continuous  ap- 
peals to  their  religious  sensibility  might  naturally  produce  ;  but 
the  practicability  and  desirableness  of  such  an  order  of  appoint- 
ments is  no  longer  an  experiment.  Its  consistency  with  the  es- 
tablished doctrines  of  grace  is  no  longer  a  problem.  Events 
have  proven  that  God  has  wonderfully  honored  this  instrumen- 

(V) 


VI  ELDER  KNAPP   AND   HIS  MINISTRY. 

tality  ;  and  now  the  system  of  '•'•protracted  meetings"  is  a  recog- 
nized agency  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Prior  to  the  institution  of  this  peculiar  system  of  measures, 
there  had  prevailed  throughout  the  Southern  States  the  custom 
of  holding  "  meetings  of  days"  These,  however,  consisted, 
more  especially,  of  a  convocation  of  the  brethren  from  a  dis- 
tance of  several  miles,  for  the  purpose  of  enjoying  a  season  of 
spiritual  refreshing  in  connection  with  a  series  of  doctrinal, 
denominational,  and  emotional  sermons.  They  were  not  pri- 
marily intended  as  a  means  of  religious  awakening  among  the 
impenitent. 

Forty  years  ago  the  institution  of  protracted  meetings  was 
comparatively  unknown.  It  took  its  rise  amid  the  suspicions 
and  denunciations  of  men  who  conscientiously  believed  the 
innovation  to  be  a  presumptuous  inconsistency  with  the  di- 
vinely appointed  methods  of  promoting  the  spread  of  the  gos- 
pel. The  tendency  of  such  measures  was  deplored  as  disas- 
trous to  the  true  interests  of  the  churches,  and  the  grounds  on 
which  they  were  advocated  were  repudiated  as  positively  antag- 
onistic to  the  standards  of  doctrinal  orthodoxy.  Many  of  our 
fathers  passed  away  sighing  out  their  lamentations  over  the 
departing  glories  of  Israel. 

The  opposition  which  was  then  manifested  to  protracted 
meetings,  was  not  based  on  those  excesses  in  the  methods  of 
conducting  them  which  experience  could  correct,  nor  on  usages 
the  propriety  of  which  time  would  determine,  but  on  the  high 
ground  of  the  utter  inconsistency  of  special  human  exertions  for 
the  conversion  of  men  with  the  sovereignty  of  God  in  the  pur- 
poses of  redemption.  Regeneration  being  a  divine  work,  it  was 
concluded  that  the  conjunction  of  human  agency  in  promoting  it 
was  a  needless  and  arrogant  presumption.  The  salvation  of 
each  sinner  being  an  act  of  electing  grace,  therefore  it  could 
not  be  affected  by  human  efforts.  The  gathering  in  of  God's 
elect  being  according  to  his  purpose  and  will,  it  was  thought 
that  his  purpose  and  will  would  be  accomplished  independently 
of  means  and  measures.  God  was  able  to  achieve  his  own 


ELDER   KNAPP   AND   HIS   MINISTRY.  vii 

intentions  without  our  agency  ;  he  knew  who  would  be  saved,  and 
who  would  not  be  saved,  and  how  to  secure  the  salvation  of 
those  who  were  ordained  unto  eternal  life  ;  and  in  his  own  time 
he  would  bring  his  purposes  to  pass.  The  strength  of  God's  peo- 
ple was  to  "  lie  still "  in  regard  to  all  questions  concerning  the 
dissemination  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ ;  and  the  chief  concern 
of  each  disciple  was,  by  processes  of  introspection,  metaphysical 
analyses,  and  spiritual  experiences,  to  settle,  if  possible,  the 
great  question  of  his  own  ordination  unto  salvation. 

Such  was  the  system  of  theology — itself  a  perversion  and 
abuse  of  the  doctrines  of  grace  —  which  prevailed  throughout 
the  Baptist  denomination  half  a  century  ago.  As  a  matter  of 
course,  it  wrought  out  its  logical  results  in  producing  a  state  of 
conscientious  apathy  concerning  the  spiritual  condition  of  the 
great  mass  of  mankind.  No  wonder  that  there  were  no  Sunday 
schools  in  connection  with  churches,  the  theology  of  whose  mem- 
bers forbade  them  to  pray  even  for  the  conversion  of  their  own 
children  ;  and  who  studiously  avoided  giving  any  suggestions  or 
instructions  to  them,  lest  the  workings  of  the  Spirit  should  be 
interfered  with  and  grieved,  and  thereby  the  sovereign  and 
elective  purpose  of  God  should  be  defeated !  No  wonder  that 
missionary  enterprises  in  behalf  of  the  heathen  world  were  dis- 
approved of,  by  Christians  whose  theological  views  taught  them 
the  needlessness  of  using  any  means  for  the  conversion  of  their 
nearest  neighbors  !  No  wonder  that  institutions  for  the  training 
of  young  men  for  the  ministry  were  scouted  at  as  "  minister- 
making  machines,"  by  a  people  who  deemed  it  a  chief  evidence 
of  a  man's  call  to  preach,  if  he  could  step  from  the  workshop 
or  the  plough  into  the  pulpit,  and  descant  for  an  hour  on  some 
religious  topic,  especially  a  doctrine  of  grace,  without  previous 
discipline  or  special  preparation!  No  wonder  that  measures 
.  looking  to  a  successive  and  persistent  pi'essure  of  the  claims  of 
salvation  on  the  attention  of  men  were  repudiated,  as  an  outrage 
on  the  order  of  the  gospel,  by  men  who  denied  the  right  of  a 
minister  to  call  on  sinners  to  repent !  In  that  day  it  was  more 
than  a  minister's  position  in  a  church  was  worth,  to  presume  on 


Vlii  ELDER   KNAPP   AND   HIS  MINISTRY. 

a  course  of  urgency  in  behalf  of  the  salvation  of  the  unconverted ; 
and  even  they,  whose  zeal  for  souls  could  not  be  restrained  by 
their  Procrustean  theories,  ventured  to  reach  the  doctrine  of 
"  works "  by  the  slow  and  guarded  approaches  of  qualifying 
explanations  and  repeated  asseverations  of  their  soundness  on 
the  cardinal  doctrines  of  grace.  And  finding  at  length  that  the 
strongholds  of  their  cherished  dogmas  were  being  assailed,  their 
advocates  found  themselves  unconsciously  roused  to  a  state  of 
activity,  in  their  zeal  to  denounce  those  who  would  not  let 
them  be  "  at  ease  in  Zion." 

But  while,  as  might  be  supposed,  these  doctrinal  perversions 
of  great  truths  bore  their  legitimate  fruits,  in  repressing  the  ardor 
of  Christian  sympathy  and  effort,  in  inducing  an  indifference  to 
the  spread  of  the  gospel  and  the  salvation  of  men,  and  in  dry- 
ing up  all  the  springs  of  benevolent  action,  yet  there  were  some 
who  proclaimed  their  inconsistency  by  violating  the  logic  of 
their  creeds,  and  who  braved  the  suspicions  and  denunciations 
of  their  brethren  by  their  earnest  and  laborious  endeavors  for 
the  conversion  of  the  impenitent.  Holcombe,  in  Philadelphia, 
amid  a  storm  of  abuse  which  scrupled  at  no  outrage,  persisted 
in  preaching  a  free  salvation,  and  in  urging  men  to  repent. 
Benedict,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  ceased  not  for  many  years 
to  warn  sinners  day  and  night  with  tears  ;  but  he  was  called  to 
encounter  the  silent  reprobation  or  the  open  protest  of  brethren 
who  prided  themselves  on  their  soundness  in  the  faith. 

When,  however,  in  the  lapse  of  years,  it  became  a  demon- 
strated fact  that  sinners  could  be  "soundly"  converted,  as  the 
result  of  special  efforts ;  when  the  churches  which  were  com- 
posed of  these  "  man-made  converts  "  became  numerous  and  in- 
fluential, while  the  churches  which  maintained  their  opposition 
to  new  measures  began  to  die  out ;  when  from  the  ranks  of 
those  converted  in  protracted  meetings  there  went  forth  a  new 
order  of  ministers  in  full  sympathy  with  such  instrumentalities, 
—  it  was  easy  to  predict  that  the  stone  which  the  builders  rejected 
would  soon  become  the  head  of  the  corner  ;  that  the  very  meas- 
ures which  at  first  were  repudiated  as  God-dishonoring  pre- 


ELDER  KNAPP   AND   HIS  MINISTRY.  ix 

sumptions,  would  come  to  be  recognized  as  an  important  and 
almost  indispensable  agency  in  promoting  the  glory  of  God. 

Instances  are  now  rare  in  the  Baptist  denomination,  in  this 
country,  of  a  church  specially  committed  against  seasons  of 
protracted  effort.  On  the  contrary,  they  have  come  to  be  re- 
garded as  among  the  established  means  of  grace  ;  and  in  numer- 
ous instances  the  conducting  of  them  is  considered  among  the 
regular  services  of  the  pastor,  and  his  own  acceptability,  in 
great  measure,  is  determined  by  his  success  in  carrying  them  on. 
The  great  proportion  of  our  present  membership  has  been  brought 
into  the  church  in  connection  with  some  form  of  protracted 
effort ;  and  despite  the  many  instances  of  falling  away,  it  may 
be  confidently  asserted,  that  the  proportion  of  apostates  is  not 
greater  than  formerly ;  while  nearly  all  those  who  are  promi- 
nent and  reliable,  on  whom  the  responsibilities  of  church  affairs 
now  devolve,  were  converted  in  connection  with  these  special 
instrumentalities. 

Nor  is  this  all.  The  marked  difference  which  distinguishes 
the  type  of  modern  piety  from  that  of  a  former  generation,  may 
be  confidently  ascribed  to  the  influence  of  this  system  of  meas- 
ures. Formerly,  the  proofs  of  piety  were  drawn  from  subjec- 
tive experiences ;  now  the  value  of  these  experiences  is  very 
greatly  determined  by  the  fruits  which  they  objectively  produce. 
It  is  now  not  so  much  a  question,  What  does  a  man  feel  for 
Christ  ?  as,  What  does  he  do  for  him  ?  It  is  now  more  thoroughly 
understood  that  the  love  of  Christ  in  the  heart  will  constrain  the 
life,  not  merely  to  acts  of  sobriety,  temperance,  and  godliness, 
but  to  a  self-sacrificing  zeal  in  good  works.  Men  are  now 
generally  converted  in  the  atmosphere  of  prayers,  anxieties,  and 
labors  in  their  behalf;  and  thus  their  first  impressions  of  con- 
secration to  Christ  are  associated  with  the  idea  of  active  and 
self-sacrificing  endeavors  for  the  salvation  of  their  fellows.  They 
know  that  they  owe  their  own  conversion  to  the  blessing  of 
God  on  the  efforts  of  others  for  them  ;  and  they  very  naturally 
conclude,  either  that  their  hopes  are  vain,  or  that  similar  ex- 
ertions for  others  may  result  in  bringing  them  to  the  enjoyment 


X  ELDER  KNAPP  AND   HIS   MINISTRY. 

of  the  same  glorious  hopes.  So  that  this  has  come  to  be  an  age 
of  Christian  activities. 

The  several  agencies  for  the  dissemination  of  the  gospel, 
•which  are  at  present  sustained  by  Baptists  in  this  country,  have 
only  quite  recently  begun  to  enter  upon  an  era  in  their  develop- 
ment which  indicates  their  permanent  hold  on  the  convictions 
of  the  churches,  and  which  gives  an  assured  earnest  of  the 
mighty  influences  they  are  destined  to  exert.  Heretofore  they 
have  been  compelled  to  fight  their  way  into  a  positive  existence, 
against  the  hinderances  of  false  views  of  the  laws  of  the  king- 
dom of  Christ,  inveterate  prejudices,  and  the  absence  of  well- 
conceived  and  fairly-tried  methods  of  organization.  But  these 
obstacles  are  now  removed.  The  churches  give  a  ready  re- 
sponse to  the  various  appeals  that  are  made  upon  their  sympa- 
thies, efforts,  and  contributions.  The  great  necessity  is  no 
longer  to  convince  Christians  of  the  consistency  of  human  efforts 
with  divine  purposes,  but  to  carry  them  forward  to  that  measure 
of  endeavor  which  is  demanded  by  the  logic  of  their  present 
convictions  of  the  relation  that  God  has  established  between  his 
purpose  and  our  use  of  means  for  their  accomplishment. 

We  do  not  say  that  this  marvellous  change  in  the  spirit  of  our 
denomination  is  due  solely  to  the  influence  of  protracted  meet- 
ings, because  it  is  well  known  that  missionary  endeavors,  Sun- 
day school  instruction,  and  ministerial  education  found  their 
advocates  long  before  the  era  of  "  special  efforts."  Many  of 
the  earliest  and  most  distinguished  friends  of  these  institutions 
did  not  look  with  favor  on  protracted  meetings.  But  it  is  also 
true  that  these  several  movements  of  Christian  benevolence  were 
stoutly  resisted  as  unwarrantable  innovations  on  the  methods  of 
grace  ;  and  until  the  time  when  the  system  of  protracted  meet- 
ings came  to  be  fairly  recognized,  they  were  able  to  maintain 
only  a  feeble  existence,  and  found  but  little  favor  with  the  people 
among  whom  they 'Were  introduced.  But  in  proportion  as  the 
churches  came  to  recognize  the  desirableness  of  protracted  meet- 
ings, and  to  be  composed  of  persons  converted  in  such  meetings, 
the  opposition  to  such  institutions  began  to  disappear,  and  their 


~  ELDER  KNAPP   AND   HIS  MINISTRY.  XI 

frieucls  and  supporters  began  to  increase  ;  so  that  now  facts  may 
be  adduced  in  sufficient  numbers  to  justify  the  assertion,  that  the 
warmest  supporters  of  missions,  of  Sunday  schools,  of  institu- 
tions for  the  education  of  young  men  for  the  ministry,  are  men 
who  have  been  led  to  appreciate  the  importance  of  protracted 
meetings,  who  cordially  cooperate  in  carrying  them  on,  and  who, 
in  many  instances,  were  themselves  brought  to  Christ  through 
their  influence.  And  it  is  a  matter  of  common  observation,  that 
never  is  it  so  easy  to  induce  a  church  to  make  large  contributions 
for  a  benevolent  object,  never  so  easy  to  pay  off  a  debt,  to  im- 
prove a  Sunday  school,  to  contribute  to  missions,  to  furnish 
support  for  indigent  students,  to  endow  colleges,  or  to  do  any 
other  work  of  active  and  sacrificing  service  for  the  cause  of  Christ, 
as  when  it  is  in  the  full  tide  of  a  religious  revival ;  and  none  are 
so  willing  to  respond  to  these  appeals  as  those  who  are  most 
deeply  interested  in  the  progress  of  such  a  special  work  of  grace. 

Now,  among  the  agents  whom  God  has  employed  for  the 
bringing  about  of  this  marked  and  blessed  change  in  the  spirit 
of  our  churches,  Jacob  Knapp  occupies  a  place  of  indisputable 
prominence. 

It  is  too  soon  to  write  a  just  estimate  of  the  value  of  his 
services  among  the  churches.  He  is  still  living ;  his  work  is  not 
yet  done ;  the  estimate  of  his  contemporaries  is  necessarily 
affected  by  their  familiarity  with  the  details  of  his  history ;  and 
he  has  not  altogether  outlived  the  prejudices  which  the  assaults 
of  a  former  generation  of  enemies  created  against  him.  The 
time  will  come,  however,  when  these  things  will  be  forgotten, 
or  be  mentioned  as  matters  of  curious  comment.  Posterity  will 
speak  of  Elder  Knapp  as  the  pioneer  and  champion  of  modern 
evangelism.  At  the  present  day  few  know  of  the  reproaches 
that  were  heaped  on  the  heads  of  Wesley,  of  Whitefield,  of  How- 
ard, or  of  Payson  ;  but  all  men  recognize  them,  as  leaders  in  the 
Zion  of  our  God,  whose  services  and  names  will  be  held  in 
everlasting  remembrance. 

There  are  several  facts  in  the  history  of  Elder  Knapp  which 
conspire  to  give  him  a  place  of  enduring  reputation  in  Delation 


xii  ELDER  KNAPP   AND   HIS  MINISTRY. 

to  the  system  of  modern  evangelism,  especially  among  Baptists. 
He  was  perhaps  the  first  man,  at  least  in  the  Northern  States, 
who  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  the  work  of  conducting  pro- 
tracted meetings.  He  ventured  on  the  providence  of  God  in 
making  the  experiment  at  a  time  when  the  results  were  prob- 
lematical. He  continued  in  his  course  despite  the  accumulations 
of  every  form  of  persecution.  His  labors  were  crowned  with 
wonderful  success  in  the  conversion  of  thousands  to  Christ.  He 
has  outlived  many  other  evangelists  who  began  after  him,  and 
still  continues  in  the  work,  —  "his  eye  undimmed,  and  his  natural 
force  unabated."  He  is  permitted  to  witness  the  triumph  of  the 
system  which  he  has  done  so  much  to  inaugurate  ;  to  rejoice 
that  even  churches  which  might  not  wish  to  secure  his  individual 
services,  rely,  nevertheless,  upon  his  methods  for  their  increase 
in  power  and  usefulness ;  and  to  know  that  when  the  memory 
of  his  assailants  will  be  forgotten,  or  remembered  chiefly  because 
of  their  opposition  to  him,  the  system  with  which  his  name  and 
life  are  associated  will  continue  to  operate  as  a  potent  agency 
in  hastening  on  the  latter-day  glories  of  the  Lamb.  His  de- 
clining years  are  cheered  by  the  retrospect  of  a  useful  life  ; 
and  the  hardships  he  has  endured,  are  made  to  appear  as 
"  light  affliction^"  in  view,  of  the  anticipated  rapture  of  receiv- 
ing the  plaudit  of  his  Savior,  and  of  recognizing  at  the  judgment- 
day  thousands  on  thousands  of  souls,  who,  redeemed  through  his 
instrumentality,  will  constitute  the  jewels  in  the  crown  of  his 
everlasting  rejoicing. 

It  is  quite  probable  that,  in  the  present  day,  a  man  of  Elder 
Knapp's  abilities,  attainments,  and  style,  starting  forth  as  an 
evangelist,  would  not  acquire  any  marked  distinction,  nor 
achieve  any  wonderful  success.  The  characteristics  of  John  the 
Baptist,  and  his  manner  of  preaching,  were  eminently  adapted 
to  fit  him  for  his  peculiar  position  as  the  herald  of  the  coming 
Messiah  ;  but  he  might  not  have  been  so  well  suited  for  a  later 
age  in  the  development  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  Men  of  differ- 
ent qualifications  were  needed  to  meet  the  exigencies  that  were 
presented  by  the  advancing  demands  of  the  mission  of  Christ. 


ELDEB  KNAPP  AND   HIS  MINISTRY.  xiii 

Luther  was  specially  raised  up  and  qualified  for  the  work  unto 
which  God  had  called  him  in  inaugurating  the  era  of  the  Protes- 
tant reformation.  Calvin  was  better  adapted  to  analyze  and 
adjust  the  grand  doctrinal  formulas  which  were  to  constitute  the 
confession  of  faith  of  succeeding  generations  of  the  church ; 
while  Wesley  could  do  a  work  which  neither  Luther  nor  Calvin 
could  have  performed,  in  awakening  Christendom  to  the  neces- 
sities of  organized  forms  of  spiritual  activity. 

And,  in  like  manner,  the  accomplished  facts  of  history  show 
that  Providence  called  Elder  Knapp  to  a  peculiar  service,  and 
a  knowledge  of  his  traits  proves  his  personal  adaptation  to  the 
mission  unto  which  he  was  called. 

The  work  to  which,  about  the  year  1832,  he  felt  himself  con- 
strained to  consecrate  his  life,  was  one  involving  peculiar  trials. 
He  was  about  to  enter  on  an  experiment.  He  was  about  to 
challenge  the  conscientious  scruples  of  nearly  airthe  leaders  in 
that  portion  of  the  American  Zion  to  which  he  belonged.  He 
was  about  to  excite  the  opposition  of  inveterate  prejudices.  He 
was  about  to  cut  loose  from  all  stated  sources  of  support,  and 
rely  on  the  voluntary  contributions; , of  people  who,  at  the  best, 
were  accustomed  to  do  but  little  for  the  support  of  ministers,  and 
whose  opposition  to  his  undertaking  would  prompt  them  to  con- 
tribute less  to  him.  He  expected  to  present  views  of  doctrine 
which  he  knew  many  Christians  would  deem  subversive  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ,  and  which  would  arouse  the  intensest  hatred 
of  the  great  mass  of  the  unconverted.  And  when  at  length  his 
labors  should  come  into  demand,  he  was  destined  to  undergo 
exhaustive  draughts  on  his  powers  of  physical  and  mental  en- 
durance. 

A  man  with  the  prospects  of  such  a  life  needed  to  possess,  in 
an  eminent  degree,  the  force  of  strong  convictions,  an  unyielding 
purpose,  patient  forbearance,  great  boldness,  clear  perceptions, 
versatile  genius,  simple  tastes,  economical  habits,  imperturbable 
self-possession,  ready  wit,*  a  good  knowledge  of  human  nature, 

*  As  an  instance  of  Elder  Knapp's  quickness  in  repartee,  it  is  related 
that,  while  holding  a  meeting  in  the  Mulberry  Street  church,  in  the  city 


xiv  ELDER   KNAPP   AND   HIS  MINISTRY. 

an  adaptation  to  persons  of  different  tastes,  an  iron  constitu- 
tion, a  humble  spirit,  and  a  firm  reliance  on  the  sustaining  grace 
of  God. 

All  these  characteristics  Elder  Knapp  has  exhibited  to  a  re- 
markable degree.  Perhaps  there  is  no  minister  of  the  gospel 
living  who  has  toiled  harder,  has  been  opposed  more,  has  com- 
plained less,  and  has  accomplished  so  much. 

True  to  the  spirit  of  his  mission,  he  has  seemed  to  regard 
himself  the  subject  of  God's  special  providence.  He  has  en- 
deavored to  follow  its  indications,  and  has  accepted  its  allot- 
ments. His  pastorates  were  with  a  rural  population,  and  he 
began  his  work  as  an  evangelist  in  a  sparsely  settled  community, 
and  was  glad  to  devote  his  services  to  churches  which  were  too 
poor  to  sustain  a  stated  pastorate,  and  withal  had  very  crude 
notions  of  the  duty  of  doing  much  for  the  support  of  ministers. 
Now,  the  fact  that  such  was  the  condition  of  the  churches  with 
which  Elder  Knapp's  earliest  labors  were  associated,  furnished 
a  favorable  opportunity  of  testing  the  strength  of  his  own  faith 
in  the  willingness  of  God  to  provide  for  the  support  of  his  fam- 
ily, and  to  give  success  to  his  labors  for  the  salvation  of  men. 
Churches  that  were  unable  to  support  pastors  were  glad  to  avail 
themselves  of  his  temporary  aid,  even  though  they  might  doubt 
the  advisability  of  his  method.  Churches  that  had  pastors 
were  unprepared  to  appreciate  the  importance  of  his  labors,  and 
the  pastors  themselves  were  either  opposed  to  his  mission,  or 
unwilling  to  encounter  the  opposition  which  a  proposition  to 
invite  his  aid  would  provoke. 

But  soon  it  became  a  matter  of  observation,  that  the  churches 
which  had  secured  the  services  of  Elder  Knapp  were  beginning 
to  enjoy  a  degree  of  prosperity  which  suggested  the  desirable- 
ness of  invoking  his  labors  with  churches  which  had  hitherto 
stood  aloof  from  him.  At  length  the  ministry  of  Elder  Knapp 
became  the  theme  of  general  comment.  Despite  the  early 

of  New  York,  a  young  man  rose  in  the  presence  of  a  vast  congregation, 
and  requested  prayers  for  the  devil.  Elder  Knapp  quietly  remarked, 
"Brethren,  this  young  man  has  asked  you  to  pray  for  his  father." 


ELDER   KNAPP   AND   HIS  MINISTRY.  XV 

prejudices  that  prevailed  against  this  order  of  measures,  de- 
spite the  criticisms  which  his  plain  and  somewhat  eccentric  style 
awakened,  it  became  evident  that  God  was  with  him,  and 
through  him  was  doing  wonders.  His  services  ere  long  came 
into  general  demand,  and  churches  distinguished  for  their 
wealth,  influence,  and  refinement,  called  him  to  labor  among 
them.  In  these  new  and  more  trying  positions  the  ministry 
of  Elder  Knapp  was  attended  with  still  greater  success  than, 
elsewhere  or  before.  During  the  few  weeks  of  his  presence  in 
any  of  the  principal  cities  of  the  Union,  the  community  was 
convulsed.  Crowds  on  crowds  thronged  to  hear  this  plain, 
outspoken  man  of  God ;  churches  were  roused  to  new  and 
unthought-of  measures  of  action ;  and  thousands  of  impenitent 
men  and  women,  from  all  classes  of  society,  were  converted 
to  God. 

About  the  years  1841  and  '42  his  ministry  appears  to  have 
culminated.  God  permitted  a  cloud  to  come  over  him  ;  but 
while  this  trying  dispensation  of  Providence  seemed  to  divert 
the  consideration  of  the  churches  from  the  workman,  it  did  not 
impede  the  progress  of  the  work.  Protracted  meetings,  as  a 
system  of  measures,  had  acquired  a  permanent  place  in  the 
agencies  to  be  henceforth  employed  by  the  people  of  God. 

Nor  was  Elder  Knapp  himself  to  be  set  aside.  But  in  other 
regions  he  was  destined  to  continue  his  labors.  During  the 
last  twenty  years  he  has  devoted  the  greater  part  of  his  time 
among  the  feeble  churches  of  the  growing  West,  many  of  which 
he  has  lived  to  see  assume  positions  of  great  promise  for  the 
spread  of  the  gospel  in  this  wonderful  portion  of  our  vast 
republic. 

Another  element  in  the  ministry  of  Elder  Knapp  —  and  one, 
too,  which  qualified  him  to  be  a  leader  of  the  people  during  the 
last  forty  years  —  was  his  earnest  sympathy  with  the  spirit  of 
philanthropy.  It  is  impossible  to  say  what  would  have  been 
the  measure  of  his  influence,  if  he  had  stood  aloof  from  all 
the  enterprises  of  modern  reform,  or  lent  to  them  his  opposition  ; 
but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  has  stood  in  the  front  rauk  of  every 


XVi  ELDER  KNAPP  AND   HIS  MINISTRY. 

movement  which  contemplated  the  elevation  of  humanity,  and 
has  rejoiced  in  every  undertaking  that  proposed  to  give  the  gos- 
pel to  the  world.  Many  men  in  his  circumstances  would  have 
thought  that,  in  order  to  success  in  one  peculiar  mission,  they 
must  keep  silence  on  every  other  topic  which  divided  the  senti- 
ments of  community  ;  but  he  shunned  not  "  to  declare  the  whole 
counsel  of  God,"  and  has  provoked  storms  of  opposition,  which 
would  not  have  arisen,  if  he  had  not  lashed  the  waves  of  popular 
passion  into  fury  by  his  fearless  denunciations  of  all  manner  of 
sin,  and  his  earnest  advocacy  of  every  measure  of  right. 

He  was  among  the  pioneers  in  the  temperance  movement. 
He  acted  as  an  officer  in  several  such  organizations,  demanded 
of  those  converted  in  his  meetings  abstinence  from  everything 
that  could  intoxicate,  and  was  permitted,  in  the  providence  of 
God,  to  start  that  mighty  wave  of  temperance  reform  known 
as  the  Washingtonian  movement,  which  nearly  thirty  years  ago 
swept  through  the  land. 

He  was  known  as  an  avowed  anti-slavery  man,  at  a  time 
when  the  utterance  of  such  sentiments  invoked  reproach  and 
persecution,  and  dared  to  lift  up  his  voice  in  behalf  of  the  slave 
in  the  very  citadel  of  the  slave  power,  and  in  a  church  whose 
congregations  could  hear  the  cries  of  the  victims  of  the  slave 
mart  mingling  with  their  own  songs  of  devotion. 

He  has  always  been  the  consistent  friend  of  missionary  en- 
terprises and  ministerial  education.  Many  indigent  students 
at  Hamilton  are  indebted  to  his  sympathizing  aid  for  the  means 
of  carrying  on  their  studies ;  and  on  one  single  afternoon,  dur- 
ing the  progress  of  a  meeting  in  Albany,  he  raised  seven  thou- 
sand dollars  for  Madison  University. 

Though  disapproving  at  one  time  of  some  measures  adopted 
by  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  he  did  not  allow  his  opposi- 
tion to  their  policy  to  weaken  the  ardor  of  his  devotion  to  the 
cause  itself;  but  during  the  three  years  in  which  he  was  most 
open  in  the  expression  of  his  disapprobation,  he  paid  to  the 
society  out  of  his  scanty  income  the  sum  of  eight  hundred 
dollars. 


ELDER   KNAPP   AND   rilS   MINISTRY.  XV ii 

Withal  he  has  maintained  an  inflexible  devotion  to  his  con- 
scientious convictions  of  denominational  truth.  Being  a  Baptist 
from  a  firm  persuasion  that  the  cardinal  views  held  by  this  people 
were  taught  in  the  "Word  of  God,  no  amount  of  persecution 
could  alienate  him  from  cooperation  with  his  brethren  in  the 
faith,  and  no  measure  of  inducements  could  allure  him  to  cast 
his  lot  with  the  people  of  another  name.  At  one  time  a  lady 
of  great  wealth,  in  Syracuse,  connected  with  the  Episcopal 
church,  offered  to  provide  for  the  support  of  his  family  during 
his  lifetime,  in  order  that  he  might  the  more  fully  devote  him- 
self to  his  calling ;  but  considerations  of  delicacy,  and  a  desire 
to  remain  entirely  free  to  utter  his  convictions,  prompted  him  to 
decline  the  generous  proposal. 

It  is  hardly  to  be  supposed  that  any  man  could  enter  upon  a 
career  of  such  marked  antagonism  to  the  prejudices  of  his  con- 
temporaries, could  undertake  to  do  battle  against  the  conscien- 
tious convictions  of  good  men,  and  to  denounce  the  hypocrisies 
and  flagrancies  of  bad  men,  without  provoking  decided  opposi- 
tion and  creating  for  himself  malignant  enemies.  And  it  is  a 
still  greater  marvel  that  he  should  be  able  to  hold  on  to  such  a 
policy  throughout  the  long  period  of  nearly  forty  years.  Yet 
such  is  the  fact  in  regard  to  the  history  of  Jacob  Knapp. 
Despite  the  fearful  forms  of  opposition  which  he  has  been 
called  to  encounter,  the  perils  he  has  been  compelled  to  meet, 
not  the  least  of  which  have  been  "perils  among  false  brethren," 
he  has  held  on  to  the  even  tenor  of  his  way.  To-day  he 
preaches  the  same  gospel  that  he  preached  forty  years  ago  ; 
to-day  he  is  the  same  plain,  fearless,  quaint,  and  pungent  ex- 
pounder of  the  truths  of  God  as  he  was  when  he  first  began. 
Flattery  has  not  cajoled  him,  abuse  has  not  intimidated  him, 
ingratitude  has  not  embittered  him,  misrepresentation  has  not 
angered  him,  and,  at  nearly  the  age  of  threescore  years  and 
ten,  in  the  review  of  these  trials,  he  is  able  to  exclaim  with 
Paul, "  None  of  these  things  moved  me  ;  neither  counted  I  my  life 
dear  unto  myself,  so  that  I  might  finish  my  course  with  joy,  and 
the  ministry  which  I  have  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  Though 
2 


XVlii  ELDER  KNAPP   AND   HIS  MINISTRY. 

keenly  appreciative  of  the  confidence  and  sympathy  of  his 
brethren,  though  deeming  the  disfavor  of  any  an  affliction,  yet 
regarding  himself  called  to  this  peculiar  work,  he  has  not  dared 
to  be  disobedient  to  the  heavenly  vision,  and  his  sustaining  con- 
solation has  been  the  conviction  that  the  Lord  was  with  him, 
"  working  mightily." 

Doubtless  this  persistency  of  purpose,  this  undaunted  courage, 
this  patient  endurance,  are  among  the  elements  of  his  history, 
which  explain  his  power.  But  in  addition  to  these,  much  is  to 
be  ascribed  to  the  strength  of  his  thoughts,  the  plainness,  sim- 
plicity, and  quaintness  of  his  style,  and,  when  before  a  congre- 
gation, the  eloquence  of  his  earnestness,  the  aptness  of  his 
illustrations,  the  directness  of  his  appeals,  and  the  freshness 
of  his  utterances. 

Undoubtedly,  to  many  minds,  some  of  Elder  Knapp's  ex- 
pressions have  been  distasteful,  and,  brought  to  the  standard 
of  a  cultured  criticism,  are  open  to  censure  ;  but  to  this  it  may 
be  said  that  these  eccentricities  in  Elder  Knapp's  preaching 
have  always  borne  the  air  of  naturalness.  They  have  not 
seemed  oddities  in  his  mind,  but  the  words  of  truth  and  sober- 
ness. They  have  fittingly  expressed  the  shades  of  his  thought, 
and  have  conveyed  to  the  minds  of  his  hearers  clear  and 
forcible  presentations  of  the  truth.  Besides,  his  singularity 
of  style  has  given  distinctness  and  reputation  to  his  min- 
istry. Thousands,  perchance,  have  been  attracted  to  hear  him 
preach  from  motives  of  curiosity,  whom  a  tamely  correct  and 
an  exquisitely  fine  preacher  could  never  have  interested,  and 
to  whom  these  peculiarities  of  utterance  have  proved  arrows 
shot  at  a  venture  ;  while  hundreds  of  others,  in  the  exercise  of  a 
noble  charity  and  a  wise  discretion,  have  overlooked  what  they 
regarded  as  minor  defects,  because  they  clearly  recognized  the 
great  amount  of  good  the  Lord  was  pleased  to  accomplish 
through  him,  because  of  the  great  amount  of  truth  he  was 
preaching,  and  because  of  the  evident  sincerity  of  the  motives 
which  inspired  him. 

But  the  real  secret  of  Elder  Knapp's  power  with  men  has 


ELDER  KNAPP  AND   HIS  MINISTRY. 

been  his  power  with  God.  It  is  an  ungracious  task  to  say  ful- 
some things  about  the  piety  of  any  living  man.  Elder  Knapp 
has  his  faults  ;  he  has  made  mistakes ;  but  that  he  is  a  man  of 
God,  those  only  can  doubt  who  do  not  know  him,  or  whose 
inveterate  prejudices  should  awaken  suspicions  of  their  own 
want  of  the  grace  of  charity.  If  it  had  been  possible  to  fasten 
reproach  upon  the  personal  integrity  and  Christian  consisten- 
cy of  Jacob  Kuapp,  it  would  certainly  have  been  done.  The 
effort  to  blast  his  reputation,  to  destroy  his  influence,  to 
drive  him  from  the  ministry,  to  make  his  name  a  byword  and 
a  reproach,  has  been  formally,  persistently,  and  perhaps  con- 
scientiously made.  But  at  every  point  the  undertaking  has 
failed. 

Being  so  conspicuously  before  the  public  for  so  many  years, 
compelled  to  sojourn  in  so  many  different  families,  called  to 
come  in  contact  with  such  a  countless  variety  of  characters, 
his  conduct  has  necessarily  been  exposed  to  the  closest  scrutiny. 
And  if  there  had  been  furnished  the  occasion,  there  have  been 
bad  men  who  with  hawk-like  avidity  were  waiting  to  seize 
upon  his  slightest  defects  ;  and  there  have  been  good  men  who 
have  watched  him  with  painful  expectations  of  making  the  sad 
discovery. 

But  through  these  many  years,  amid  so  many  vicissitudes, 
God  has  mercifully  preserved  him.  In  purity  of  deportment, 
in  gentleness  of  spirit,  in  quietness  of  behavior  under  fearful 
provocations,  in  magnanimity  towards  enemies,  in  constant 
habits  of  communion  with  God,  the  hundreds  of  families  with 
which  he  has  sojourned  bear  unanimous  testimony.  And  when 
at  one  time  the  attempt  was  formally  undertaken  to  investigate 
his  conduct,  the  verdict  in  these  particulars,  his  enemies  being 
judges,  was  emphatic  in  his  behalf. 

It  is,  perhaps,  too  soon,  or  too  late,  at  the  present,  to  enter 
upon  a  detailed  account  of  the  investigation  to  which  we  allude 
—  too  soon,  because  something  is  due  to  participants  in  it  who 
are  still  living,  or  are  only  recently  dead ;  too  late,  because 
what  ought  to  be  said  should  have  been  said  at  the  time.  Yet 


XX  ELDER   KNAPP   AND   HIS   MINISTRY. 

the  fact  that  nothing  was  said  then  is  a  reason  why  something 
should  be  said  now. 

It  is  not  proper  for  us,  neither  is  it  our  purpose,  to  attempt  a 
partisan  defence  of  Elder  Knapp.  Nor  is  it  necessary.  The 
investigation  was  conducted  by  men  of  tried  integrity  and  clear 
judgment  —  men  who  enjoyed  and  commanded  the  confidence 
of  the  denomination.  To  their  verdict  Elder  Knapp  was  willing 
to  submit  his  case,  and  by  their  verdict  he  has  ever  since  been 
content  to  abide.  But  unfortunately,  for  reasons  beyond  his 
control,  that  verdict  was  never  published  to  the  world ;  and 
Elder  Knapp  has  been  compelled,  for  the  last  twenty  years, 
to  suffer,  in  silence,  the  disadvantages  which  their  silence  occa- 
sioned, and  to  meet  the  suspicions  and  hinderances  which  the 
busy  and  untrammelled  action  of  his  enemies  created  agaiost 
him. 

Shortly  after  the  season  of  his  marvellous  successes  in  New 
England,  a  reaction  set  in  on  several  of  the  churches  with  which 
he  had  labored.  This  reaction  was  partly  natural,  partly  pro- 
duced by  the  mismanagement  of  the  churches  themselves, 
and  partly  by  the  anxiety  of  the  enemies  of  revivals  to  prove 
them  failures  and  disasters.  The  result  was,  that  a  wide- 
spread impression  was  created,  not  only  that  the  measures  of 
Elder  Knapp  were  unfortunate,  but  that  his  motives  were  sinis- 
ter. Rumors  became  rife  that  the  course  he  pursued,  especially 
in  Boston,  was  designedly  calculated  to  create  the  impression 
that  he  was  very  poor,  in  order  to  induce  the  people  to  dispense 
contributions  of  unwonted  liberality.  Reports  of  these -rumors 
reached  Hamilton,  where  Elder  Kuapp  resided,  and  a  vigorous 
correspondence  was  maintained  between  certain  parties  with 
regard  to  the  actual  state  of  his  finances  and  the  measures  he 
had  taken  to  increase  them. 

On  returning  from  holding  a  protracted  meeting,  Elder  Knapp 
came  home,  on  one  occasion,  to  find  the  community  agitated  with 
conflicting  rumors ;  and  finding  that  these  rumors  were  likely  to 
spread  and  hinder  his  usefulness  as  an  evangelist,  he  called  at 
once  for  an  investigation.  The  matter  by  mutual  consent  was 


ELDER  KNAPP  AND   HIS  MINISTRY. 

at  first  referred  to  a  private  committee.  This  committee,  in  an 
enlarged  form,  finally  met  in  the  month  of  June,  1844.  It  was 
composed  of  brethren,  the  mention  of  whose  names  is  a  guar- 
anty of  the  justice  of  the  decision  they  would  be  likely  to  reach, 
to  wit,  Dr.  Nathaniel  Kendrick,  Dr.  G.  W.  Eaton,  Deacons  S. 
B.  Burchard,  William  Cobb,  and  A.  Pierce,  to  whom  were  added, 
prior  to  the  June  meeting,  Kev.  B.  N.  Leach,  Pastof  of  the 
Baptist  Church  at  Hamilton  ;  Professor  S.  W.  Taylor,  Clerk  ; 
Deacon  William  Colgate,  of  New  York  City ;  and  Deacons 
Sage  and  Barton,  of  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

"  The  brethren  of  the  committee,*  having  thoroughly  exam- 
ined the  whole  matter,  united  (we  believe  no  one  dissented)  in 
the  deliberate  opinion  that  there  was  '  nothing  in  the  case  which 
ought  to  interrupt  Elder  Knapp's  connection  with  the  church,  or 
his  labors  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel'  THIS  WAS  A  DECISION 
TJPON  THE  MERITS  OP  THE  CASE  ]  not  an  important  particular 
was  left  out  of  the  case. 

"  After  this  main  result  was  attained,  the  next  inquiry  was, 
'  What  particulars  are  there  concerning  which  suggestions  can 
be  made,  with  probable  advantage  to  the  brethren?'  Every 
such  particular  was  carefully  selected,  and  one  of  the  committee 
was  appointed  to  speak  to  parties  touching  these  particulars,  and 
to  announce  to  them  the  committee's  general  conclusion.  This 
he  did  with  a  clearness,  a  pathos,  a  faithfulness,  and  an  effect 
which  cannot  be  adequately  described.  Elder  Knapp,  inter- 
rupted with  irrepressible  emotion,  expressed  his  thanks  to  the 
brethren  for  their  kindness,  their  patience,  and  their  faithful- 
ness. [The  other  party  to  the  trial]  expressed  himself  in  a 
most  feeling  and  appropriate  manner  to  the  individual  members 
of  the  committee,  and  expressed  his  happiness  in  what  had  been 
accomplished. 

"  The  closing  scene  can  never  be  effaced  from  the  memory 
of  the  brethren  present.  Every  heart  was  warm  and  tender. 

*  I  quote  from  an  explicit  and  detailed  account  of  the  trial,  prepared 
at  the  time  by  Professor  Taylor,  and  certified  to  by  several  witnesses. 

R.  J. 


ELDER  KNAPP  AND   HIS  MINISTRY. 

It  was  a  scene  of  Christian  embraces  and  tears  of  joy ;  the 
brethren  all  rejoiced  in  what  they  fondly  regarded  as  the  end 
of  a  matter  of  most  painful  and  intense  interest,  likely,  if  long 
agitated  and  mismanaged,  to  jeopard  the  interests  of  the  Ham- 
ilton Literary  and  Theological  Institute,  the  peace  and  prosperity 
of  the  Hamilton  church,  and  of  Zion  still  more  extensively  ;  and 
especially  the  good  name  and  usefulness  of  the  two  brethren 
whose  difficulties  had  been  removed.  The  brethren  reckoned 
the  great  and  good  work  accomplished.  Nothing  remained  ex- 
cept to  prepare  such  an  account  of  the  adjustment  as  the  parties, 
together  with  the  members  of  the  committee,  would  be  willing 
to  subscribe,  and  such  a  one,  likewise,  as  might  serve  to  allay 
public  excitement,  and  satisfy  the  candid  Christian  public. 

"  This  was  thought  to  be  the  work  of  a  few  minutes.  It  was 
only  to  give  a  short  and  general  account  of  the  settlement ;  and 
this  was  immediately  attempted  :  but  the  form  not  proving  en- 
tirely satisfactory,  and  Elder  Knapp  and  Deacons  Colgate,  Sage, 
and  Barton  being  obliged  to  leave  town  immediately,  the  com- 
mittee, having  directed  four  of  their  number  to  prepare  for  the 
public  eye  the  requisite  account  of  the  settlement,  adjourned 
sine  die." 

The  want  of  the  few  additional  minutes  needed  to  frame  the 
account  of  that  settlement,  has  been  fraught  with  results  of 
momentous  import  to  the  kingdom  of  Christ;  Many  of  these 
results,  we  believe,  have  proved  and  are  destined  to  prove  great 
blessings  to  the  church  and  the  world  ;  but  to  Elder  Knapp  per- 
sonally the  results  have  been  an  entail  of  intense  mortification 
and  severe  discipline. 

Shortly  after  the  adjournment  of  the  committee,  side  issues 
arose,  outside  influences  obtruded  themselves,  much  time  was 
lost  by  correspondence  with  the  different  members  of  the  com- 
mittee, and  finally,  when,  after  the  lapse  of  months,  the  form 
of  the  report  was  agreed  upon,  one  of  the  principal  parties  to 
the  trial  refused  to  subscribe  his  name.  This  party  was  not 
Elder  Knapp. 

In  this  way  Elder  Knapp  was  deprived  of  all  the  benefit 


ELDER  KNAPP  AND   HIS  MINISTRY.  XX111 

•which  he  had  hoped  to  derive  from  the  publication  of  the  ver- 
dict ;  nay,  more,  the  withholding  of  the  report  from  the  public 
was  being  construed  to  his  injury,  and  he  was  finding  his  access 
to  the  churches  hedged  up  by  the  suspicions,  surmises,  and  scan- 
dals which  these  uncontradicted  rumors  had  produced. 

Finding  at  length  that  he  should  not  be  able  to  derive  any 
benefit  from  the  verdict  of  the  committee,  Elder  Knapp  resolved 
to  appeal  to  the  Baptist  Church  at  Hamilton,  of  which  he  was 
a  member.  Of  this  church  he  asked  a  formal  and  thorough 
investigation  of  all  the  rumors  affecting  his  reputation. 

With  this  request,  after  some  discussion  as  to  the  necessity 
of  it,  —  seeing  that  no  formal  charge  had  been  preferred  against 
Elder  Knapp,  —  the  church  complied  ;  and  a  large  committee 
was  appointed  to  investigate  all  matters,  and  report  the  evidence 
and  their  conclusions  to  the  church. 

In  due  time  this  committee  made  a  full  and  exhaustive  report, 
and  presented  their  conclusions,  which  were  adopted  by  the 
church.  This  report  covered  some  matters  of  investigation 
which  were  incidental  to  the  main  charge,  and  had  arisen  since 
the  adjournment  of  the  committee.  Without  going  into  these 
details,  it  will  suffice  to  -give  here  the  verdict  of  the  church 
regarding  the  great  question  at  issue.  There  were  five  reso- 
lutions adopted.  The  second,  and  third,  and  fourth  pertain  to 
these  incidental  affairs,  and  exonerate  him  in  regard  to  them  ; 
the  other  two  read  as  follows :  "  I.  Resolved,  That  it  is  the 
opinion  of  this  church  that  Elder  Knapp's  language  or  form  of 
expression  in  regard  to  his  property  was  not  so  definite  as  might 
be  desirable,  and  that  we  can  conceive  that  it  might  be  easy  for 
individuals  to  receive  from  it  an  erroneous  impression  ;  but  still 
we  do  not  think  we  have  evidence  that  he  intended  that  it  should 
have  such  an  effect." 

The  last  resolution  is,  "Finally,  in  view  of  the  whole  matter, 
this  church  is  prepared  to  state  its  opinion,  that  there  is  in  the 
case,  as  it  now  stands,  nothing  which  ought  to  interrupt  Elder 
Knapp's  connection  with  the  church,  or  interfere  with  his  labctrs 
as  a  gospel  minister." 


XXIV  ELDER   KNAPP   AND   HIS  MINISTRY. 

In  the  charges  that  were  preferred  against  him,  it  was  not 
alleged  that  he  had  ever  asked  the  churches  for  a  cent  of  com- 
pensation, or,  except  in  one  or  two  private  conversations,  had 
made  any  allusions  to  his  finances.  But  his  appearance  before 
Boston  audiences  in  plain  and  somewhat  rural  attire  created 
the  impression  that  he  must  be  very  poor,  and  prompted  some 
kind-hearted  people  to  contribute  money  and  presents  to  him, 
under  that  supposition.  The  sufficient  answer  to  such  a  charge 
is,  that  matters  of  dress  are  matters  of  taste.  What  may  seem 
extravagance  to  one  may  not  appear  to  be  such  to  another,  and 
what  one  would  regard  good  enough  may  seem  uncomely  to 
another.  Elder  Knapp,  from  early  life,  was  economical  in  his 
habits,  and  very  plain  in  his  tastes  ;  and  he  avers  that  the  pros- 
pect of  going  to  Boston  tempted  him  to  indulge  in  unusual 
expenses,  in  order  to  appear  before  a  Boston  audience  in  be- 
coming attire. 

It  was  in  no  instance  shown  that  he  had  made  direct  repre- 
sentations of  poverty  ;  but  the  investigation  proved  that  he  had 
given  in  an  over-estimate  of  his  property.  It  was  shown  that 
he  had  accumulated  some  property,  but  not  from  his  income  as 
an  evangelist,  but  that  his  income  from  that  source  had  been 
inadequate  for  the  support  of  his  large  family ;  and  several 
members  of  the  committee  expressed  their  unwillingness  to 
purchase  his  property  at  four  fifths  of  the  price  at  which  he  had 
estimated  it  to  be  worth. 

The  decision  reached  by  the  church  was  not  altogether  satis- 
factory. The  resolutions  had  evidently  been  prepared  in  the 
spirit  of  compromise.  Many  thought  that  justice  to  Elder 
Knapp  demanded  a  more  unequivocal  expression  of  sympathy 
and  approval ;  a  few  thought  that  a  more  explicit  tone  of  cen- 
sure ought  to  have  been  expressed.  The  community  had  been 
agitated  for  months,  opinions  had  become  divided,  friends  had 
become  alienated,  issues  had  been  made,  and  pride  had  been 
roused. 

The  consequences  followed.  Professor  Taylor  was  induced 
to  remove  to  Lewisburgh,  Penn.,  and  there  lay  the  foundations 


ELDER  KNAPP   AND   HIS  MINISTRY.  XXV 

of  that  noble  institution  now  known  as  Lewisburgh  University, 
Professor  Maginnis  lent  himself  vigorously  to  the  attempt  to 
remove  the  Madison  University  from  Hamilton  to  Rochester. 
The  agitation  of  this  question  ensued  ;  and  finally  two  institu- 
tions of  learning  were  secured  to  the  Baptist  denomination,  — 
one  in  Hamilton  and  one  in  Rochester,  —  each  well  endowed, 
manned  by  an  able  corps  of  teachers,  and  filled  with  students. 
Elder  Knapp  removed  to  Illinois,  and  in  this  western  world 
continued  his  work  as  an  evangelist,  in  communities  where  the 
churches  were  too  poor  to  give  him  much  compensation,  and 
in  communities  in  which  there  were  no  churches  at  all,  and 
where  the  only  remuneration  he  could  receive  was  the  satisfac- 
tion of  doing  good,  without  reward  from  men. 

In  the  review  of  this  whole  matter,  it  seems  to  be  just  and 
proper  to  say,  good  men  differed.  "  The  contention  between 
them  was  so  sharp,  that,"  as  in  the  case  of  two  good  men  cen- 
turies ago,  "  they  departed  asunder,  the  one  from  the  other  ;  " 
and  that  the  contention  in  this  case,  as  in  that,  has  turned  out 
to  the  furtherance  of  'the  gospel.  In  these  results  let  all 
rejoice,  even  those  who  have  personally  suffered  the  most. 

At  the  same  time,  the  retrospect  of  this  unfortunate  affair 
cannot  fail  to  bring  great  consolation  to  Elder  Knapp.  He  has 
learned  many  valuable  lessons  and  gained  much  rich  experience, 
the  realization  of  which  must  fill  his  heart  with  humble  grati- 
tude to  God.  A  scrutiny  into  his  life-long  conduct,  invigorated 
as  it  was  by  personal  animosities,  was  able  to  fix  upon  no 
greater  fault  than  a  foible,  and  was  able  to  make  no  sufficient 
ground  of  complaint  even  on  such  a  point.  The  brethren  who 
were  participants  in  the  investigation,  and  unanimously  attested 
his  integrity,  were  men  whose  eminent  and  widely-known  repu- 
tation for  probity  and  sagacity  challenges  the  confidence  of  the 
public.  God  has  graciously  kept  him  from  sinking  under  the 
trial,  and  retiring  from  the  ministry.  By  reason  of  his  removal 
to  the  West,  the  sphere  of  his  influence  has  been  enlarged.  He 
is  still  enabled,  at  an  advanced  age  of  life,  to  labor  for  the 
salvation  of  souls,  and  finds  his  declining  years  cheered  with 


XXVI  ELDER   KNAPP   AND    HIS   MINISTRY. 

numerous  expressions  of  the  cordial  sympathy  and  confidence 
of  his  brethren.  He  is  comforted  by  the  reasonable  expecta- 
tion that  his  name  will  be  cherished  in  the  hearts  of  coming 
generations.  He  is  nerved  to  still  greater  efforts  in  honor  of  the 
Savior,  by  the  hope  that  when  he  shall  rest  from  his  labors,  his 
works  will  follow  him,  in  the  adoption  of  his  measures  as  per- 
manent instrumentalities  for  promoting  the  cause  of  Christ. 
And  the  few  years  yet  remaining  to  him  on  earth  are  cheered 
by  the  joyous  anticipation  of  meeting,  in  the  final  gathering, 
multitudes  who  will  forever  ascribe  their  position  in  the  blood- 
washed  throng  to  the  blessing  of  God  on  the  preaching  and 
prayers  of  JACOB  KNAPP. 


INTRODUCTION. 


IN  the  early  part  of  my  ministry  as  an  Evangelist,  I  had  no 
intention  of  publishing  anything  myself  concerning  my  labors, 
nor  of  leaving  anything  for  others  to  publish  after  I  was  dead. 
Consequently  I  kept  no  journal,  and  wrote  nothing  with  that 
end  in  view. 

As  time  rolled  on,  and  important  events  continually  multiplied, 
I  was  advised  by  friend  after  friend  to  be  preparing  something 
which  might  be  useful  after  my  decease.  I  began  to  write  some- 
what, but  was  heartless  about  it,  and  finally  destroyed  all  I 
had  written,  lest  it  might  minister  to  an  unholy  ambition,  and 
come  in  conflict  with  my  determination  to  "  crucify  the  flesh,  with 
the  affections  and  lusts." 

At  length  many  persons  urged  the  subject  of  my  publishing, 
as  a  matter  of  duty.  They  assured  me  that  a  history  of  my 
labors  would  be  of  great  benefit  to  those  who  would  come  after 
me.  This  view  had  great  weight  with  me.  I  therefore  began 
to  write  again,  but  only  occasionally ;  not  thinking  that  what 
I  might  prepare  would  be  made  public  while  I  was  in  the  land 
of  tlje  living.  In  the  year  1866  I  consulted  many  eminent 
brethren,  in  whose  judgments  I  had  more  confidence  than  in 
my  own.  They  advised  me  to  prepare  a  history  of  my  minis- 
try for  publication  at  once.  They  assured  me  that  my  hesita- 
tion to  do  so  arose  from  the  dictates  of  false  delicacy,  that  the 
rising  ministry  and  the  present  age  ought  not  to  be  denied  the 
benefits  of  my  long  experience. 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

On  reflection  I  could  see  that  I  was  outliving  my  generation, 
and  that  another  had  already  risen, which  knew  not  Jacob.  I 
realized  that  soon  those  who  would  be  most  interested  in  this 
work,  by  reason  of  their  personal  relations  to  my  ministry,  would 
be  gone,  while  many  who  could  bear  witness  to  the  truth  of 
the  marvellous  things  I  might  relate,  would  be  where  their 
testimony  could  not  be  had. 

In  view  of  these  considerations  I  went  to  writing  an  account 
of  the  different  meetings,  and  of  the  remarkable  incidents  which 
occurred  in  them,  as  best  I  could  from  recollection.  There  will 
be,  doubtless,  some  mistakes  in  the  accounts  given,  as  many 
years  have  elapsed  since  several  of  the  occurrences  related  took 
place  ;  but  I  am  confident  that  they  are  substantially  correct, 
and  not  overdrawn.  If  I  had  kept  a  strict  account  of  all  the 
incidents  of  my  life  as  they  transpired,  the  work  would  have 
been  far  more  comprehensive  and  interesting ;  but  the  details  of 
many  events  have  faded  from  my  memory,  while  of  others  I 
think  it  well  to  say  nothing,  because,  at  this  distance  of  time, 
their  verity  could  not  be  easily  corroborated. 

The  peculiar  nature  of  my  ministry,  covering,  as  it  does,  a 
period  in  which  I  was  called  to  encounter  the  opposition  of  deep- 
seated  prejudices,  has  necessarily  brought  me  in  conflict  with 
many,  who,  more  or  less  conscientiously,  have  set  themselves  to 
hinder  the  success  of  my  labors  and  disparage  my  influence. 
Many  of  these  are  now  dead  ;  a  few  are  still  living  ;  but  in  refer- 
ence to  none  do  I  wish  to  perpetuate  unkind  memories,  and  there- 
fore have  purposely  avoided  mentioning  such  by  name,  except 
wherever  fidelity  to  truth  and  an  intelligible  statement  have  com- 
pelled me  to  do  so.  In  the  language  of  the  lamented  Lincoln, 
I  do  sincerely  say  that  "  with  malice  towards  none,  and  charity 
for  all,"  I  submit  my  book  to  the  prayerful  and  candid  consid- 
eration of  the  Christian  public. 

JACOB  KNAPP. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


OF 


ELDER   JACOB    KNAPP. 


CHAPTER    I. 

Birth,  Parentage,  and  early  Religious  Instructions.  —  Experience  of 
Conviction  and  Conversion.  —  Backsliding.  —  Removal  West.  — 
Attending  School  in  the  East.  —  Ball-room  and  Prayer-meeting.  — • 
Re-consecration.  —  Baptism. 

I  "WAS  born  in  Otsego  County,  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
on  the  7th  day  of  December,  1799.  My  father  was  in 
moderate  circumstances.  I  lived  with  my  parents  during  most 
of  the  period  of  my  minority. 

My  parents  and  grand-parents  on  my  father's  side  were  Epis- 
copalians ;  consequently  I  was  brought  up  to  attend  the  church, 
and  was  taught  the  Creed  and  Catechism  from  my  infancy.  My 
mind  was  early,  and  at  times  deeply,  impressed  with  divine 
truth.  From  the  first  of  my  remembrance  I  had  seasons  of 
secret  prayer,  and  of  deep  anxiety  about  the  future  welfare 
of  my  soul ;  but  I  was  not  led  to  hope  in  Christ  as  my  Savior 
until  the  summer  of  my  seventeenth  year,  when  it  pleased  God 
to  take  from  me  my  dear  mother. 

This  sad  bereavement  led  me,  more  than  ever  before,  to  feel 
my  need  of  a  Comforter  and  Friend  which  this  world  could  not 
afford,  and  to  see  the  emptiness  and  vanity  of  all  terrestrial 
enjoyments.  I  separated  myself  for  a  time  from  rude  company, 

(13) 


14  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

and  betook  myself  to  the  Bible,  hymn-book,  prayer,  and  the 
bouse  of  God.  My  health  declined  in  consequence  of  ray  dis- 
tress of  mind ;  so  much  so,  that  I  remember  that,  coming  one 
day  from  the  woods  where  I  had  been  to  pray,  my  father 
remarked,  that  as  my  health  was  so  poor,-  he  should  have  to 
put  me  to  a  trade.  I  thought  to  myself,  "  Little  does  my  father 
guess  my  disease,  or  the  kind  of  treatment  which  the  nature  of 
my  case  demands."  I  often  repaired  to  the  barn  or  the  grove  in 
the  silent  hours  of  the  night,  and  poured  out  my  soul  in  prayer 
to  God. 

At  length,  one  Lord's  day  morning,  I  took  my  Bible  and 
hymn-book,  and  repaired  to  the  woods,  with  a  determination 
never  to  return  without  relief  to  my  soul.  I  went  some  dis- 
tance from  human  sight  or  hearing,  laid  myself  down  on  a 
grassy  knoll,  and  prayed  and  read,  and  read  and  prayed.  All 
the  promises  seemed  beautiful,  and  of  more  value  than  all  the 
world  besides ;  the  hymns  appeared  glorious ;  but,  "  Ah," 
thought  I,  "  I  can  never  sing  them  in  heaven  ;  this  happiness  is 
for  another."  I  felt  my  vileness ;  all  my  sins  rose  before  me 
like  mountains.  I  thought  I  had  prayed,  read  the  Bible,  at- 
tended meetings,  and  done  all  that  was  in  my  power  to  do  ;  and 
yet  I  seemed  to  grow  worse  and  worse,  more  and  more  despi- 
cable in  the  sight  of  God.  Not  as  yet  understanding  the  way 
of  salvation,  but  trusting  to  my  own  righteousness,  and  now 
discovering  that  to  be  worthless  and  an  offence  to  a  holy  God,  I 
felt  myself  sinking  down  into  despair.  I  saw  clearly  the  right- 
eousness of  God  in  sending  me  to  the  lowest  hell.  At  this 
moment  the  earth  seemed  to  open  beneath  me,  and  hell  appeared 
to  be  yawning  for  my  reception.  I  closed  my  eyes,  fully  expect- 
ing to  open  them  no  more  until  I  opened  them  in  hell,  and  lifted 
them  up  with  the  rich  man  in  torment. 

But,  to  the  joy  and  rapture  of  my  soul,  after  a  short  space  of 
time  passgd  in  this  condition,  my  load  of  guilt  was  gone.  I 
rose  up  quickly,  turned  my  eyes  towards  heaven,  and  thought  I 
saw  Jesus  descending  with  his  arms  extended  for  my  reception. 
My  soul  leaped  within  me,  and  I  broke  forth  into  singing  praises 
to  the  blessed  Savior.  The  sweet  melodies  of  the  birds  seemed 


ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  15 

to  make  harmony  with  my  songs,  and,  as  I  looked  around  me, 
the  sun  shone  with  a  lustre  not  his  own,  the  majestic  trees, 
swaying  to  the  gentle  breeze,  appeared  to  bow  in  sweet  submis- 
sion to  the  will  of  Heaven.  All  nature  smiled,  and  everything, 
animate  and  inanimate,  praised  God  with  a  voice  (though 
unheard  before)  too  loud  and  too  plain  to  be  misunderstood. 
At  this  moment  I  lost  all  concern  about  heaven  or  hell ;  my 
soul  was  wholly  absorbed  in  loving  and  praising  Him  whom 
angels  adore  and  all  nature  magnifies.  I  then  knew  the  peace 
there  was  in  believing  in  Jesus,  and  I  saw  that  he  had  borne 
the  guilt  of  my  sins,  and  "  become  the  end  of  the  law  for  right- 
eousness to  every  one  that  believeth." 

Soon  after  this  I  was  led  to  examine  the  word  of  God,  to 
know  what  he  would  have  me  to  do.  I  found  very  shortly  that 
God  commanded  me  to  repent  and  be  baptized.  Nor  was  I  at 
a  loss  to  find  out  what  baptism  was.  Though  but  a  youth,  and 
always  taught  that  sprinkling  was  baptism,  and  that  infants  were 
proper  subjects,  yet  I  saw  that  in  the  days  of  the  apostles  the 
candidates  were  required  to  bring  forth  fruits  meet  for  repent- 
ance, to  believe  with  all  the  heart,  and  that  when  they  had 
repented  and  believed  they  went  down  into  the  water  and  came 
up  out  of  the  water,  being  buried.  This  procedure  I  could  not 
think  necessary  in  order  merely  to  sprinkle  a  person. 

About  this  time,  in  Masonville,  Delaware  County,  near  which 
place  my  father  then  resided,  there  was  a  revival  among  the 
Baptists.  I  attended  the  preaching,  and  saw  some  converts 
baptized.  The  scene  produced  a  powerful  impression  on  me. 
"  This,"  thought  I,  "  is  the  way  in  which  John  the  Baptist, 
Philip,  and  all  the  apostles  baptized ;  "  and  the  more  I  read  the 
more  I  was  confirmed  in  my  convictions  that  my  having  been 
sprinkled  in  infancy  would  not  answer  the  commands  of  God,  to 
believe  and  be  baptized.  Nor  could  I  find  food  for  my  hungry 
soul  iu  the  forms  and  ceremonies  of  the  Episcopal  church, 
though  heretofore  I  had  ever  held  her  in  such,  high  veneration 
as  the  Holy  Catholic  Church. 

For  a  long  time  I  felt  it  both  a  duty  and  a  privilege  to  be 
"  buried  with  Christ  in  baptism,"  but  inasmuch  as  I  was  under 


16  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

age,  and  my  father  and  grand-parents  were  very  much  unrecon- 
ciled to  my  joining  the  Baptist  church,  and  I  could  in  con- 
science join  no  other,  I  remained  out  of  any,  designing  when 
of  age  to  arise  and  follow  my  Lord.  I  continued  to  enjoy  the 
presence  of  Jesus  for  some  length  of  time,  say  ten  or  twelve 
months.  But  beginning  about  then  to  enter  into  the  ranks  of 
young  company,  and  joining  heartily  in  many  of  their  amuse- 
ments, I  found  myself  yielding  to  the  temptations  that  sur- 
rounded me,  and'  experienced  a  serious  decline  in  spirituality : 
like  Peter,  I  began  to  follow  Jesus  "  afar  off." 

The  summer  of  1817  I  spent  in  Cayuga  County,  N.  Y.,  during 
which  time  I  lived  far  from  God.  I  became  so  exceedingly 
rude  that  I  often  delivered  orations  and  made  speeches  concern- 
ing religion  for  sport.  One  day,  I  remember,  I  was  sent  for  by 
a  wild  set  of  young  men  to  preach  the  funeral  sermon  of  a 
horse.  This  request  shocked  me,  and  served  to  open  my  eyes  as 
to  my  condition.  During  all  this  period  of  criminal  wildness  I 
frequently  had  seasons  of  secret  prayer  and  of  weeping  and 
bitterness  over  my  course  of  living,  and  as  often  resolved  to  re- 
form. I  never  could,  even  in  my  most  distant  wanderings,  hear 
religion  ridiculed,  or  the  name  of  Christ  profaned,  or  his  people 
reproached,  without  great  pain.  Such  allusions  would  pierce 
my  heart  like  a  dagger,  and  become  the  occasions  of  great  com- 
punction. 

About  this  time,  I  removed  with  my  father,  into  a  new  country, 
on  the  head  waters  of  the  Ohio  River.  There  I  was  cutoff  from 
all  religious  privileges.  During  the  first  year  of  my  residence 
I  did  not  hear  a  single  sermon.  There  were  no  religious  meet- 
ings whatever  in  the  neighborhood.  At  first  the  sense  of 
these  deprivations  served  to  quicken  within  me  an  appreciation 
of  those  opportunities  and  blessings  which  I  had  so  sadly 
neglected  and  abused,  and  I  formed  a  determination  to  lead  a 
new  life.  For  a  while  I  succeeded  in  carrying  out  my  resolu- 
tion, but  very  soon  I  found  my  need  of  the  appointed  means  of 
grace,  and  again  I, wandered  far  from  God. 

In  December,  1818,  assisted  by  my  father,  I  returned  to 
Delaware  County,  N.  Y.,  for  the  purpose  of  attending  school. 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  17 

I  was  overjoyed  to  see  my  young  companions  again ;  and.  after 
being  urged  somewhat,  I  consented  to  attend  with  them  a  New 
Year's  ball,  for  which  they  were  then  busily  making  prepara- 
tions. I  yielded,  however,  to  their  importunities  with  reluc- 
tance, excusing  myself  on  the  ground  of  my  long  absence,  and 
resolving  that  this  should  be  the  last  in  which  I  would  engage. 
Shortly  before  the  time  fixed  upon,  I  learned  that  the  Baptist 
church  had  appointed  a  prayer-meeting  for  the  same  night  in 
the  school-house  across  the  way  from  the  ball-room.  This 
coincidence  disturbed  me  very  much.  I  thought  of  the  lan- 
guage of  Christ,  "  He  that  is  not  for  me  is  against  me."  I 
repented  of  my  engagement,  but  thought  I  could  not  go  back. 
I  prayed  and  wept  in  secret  places  and  in  the  silent  hours  of 
the  night.  The  Spirit  seemed  to  say  to  me,  "  Here  are  two 
meetings ;  one  in  which  to  worship  God,  and  for  what  is  the 
other?"  The  answer  was  forced  from  my  lips,  "  To  serve  the 
devil.  It  is  against  Christ."  Then  I  exclaimed,  with  tears 
streaming  down  my  cheeks,  "  Hast  thou  done  so  much  for  me, 
O  thou  blessed  Jesus,  and  am  I  against  thee  ?  Am  I  scattering 
abroad  ?  "  And  straightway  I  resolved  that  instead  of  attending 
the  ball,  I  would  go  to  the  prayer-meeting ;  that  I  would  desert 
the  devil,  and  serve  him  no  longer.  I  found  him  to  be  a  cruel 
master,  and  Jesus  to  be  full  of  kindness  and  tender  mercy. 

God,  in  his  infinite  goodness,  had  impressed  the  minds  of 
some  other  of  my  companions  in  a  similar  manner ;  and  two  01 
three  of  them,  who  had  designed  to  attend  the  ball,  went  with 
me  to  the  meeting.  While  this  band  of  praying  disciples  was 
engaged  in  songs  and  supplications,  we  could  hear  the  music  of 
the  fiddle,  and  the  company  of  dancers  could  at  the  same  time 
catch,  the  sound  of  voices  in  prayer  and  songs  of  praise.  The 
exercises  of  the  meeting  discovered  no  unusual  amount  of 
religious  interest ;  but  my  own  feelings  were  deeply  moved, 
and  I  covered  my  face  in  order  to  conceal  them.  '  With  diffi- 
culty did  I  withhold  an  expression,  and  my  heart  almost  burst 
within  me.  At  length  the  meeting  was  brought  to  a  close  ;  and 
as  the  brethren  rose  up  to  depart,  I  opened  my  mouth,  and  gave 


18  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

vent  to  the  burden  of  my  heart.  This  done,  the  devil  was 
vanquished.  All  fell  on  their  knees,  and  I  attempted  to  pray 
in  public  for  the  first  time ;  others  followed  me.  From  that 
moment  a  revival  commenced,  which  resulted  in  the  conversion 
of  sixty  young  people,  who  were  added  to  the  church  that  win- 
ter. Of  this  number,  nine  were  convicted  on  that  same  evening, 
while  in  the  ball-room,  under  the  voice  of  prayer  which  they 
heard  from  across  the  street. 

At  this  time  I  began  to  be  strongly  impressed  with  the  con- 
viction that  it  was  my  duty  to  be  baptized  and  unite  with  the 
church.  The  command,  "  Arise  and  be  baptized,"  kept  ringing 
in  my  ears  night  and  day.  But  1  was  under  age,  more  than 
two  hundred  miles  from  home,  and  well  knew  the  unwillingness 
of  my  father  to  my  joining  a  Baptist  church.  I  hesitated  to 
take  this  important  step  without  informing  him  of  my  wishes 
and  obtaining  his  consent.  After  much  prayer  and  many  tears, 
I  sat  down  and  wrote  him  a  letter,  telling  him  all  my  heart,  and 
begging  his  permission  to  do  what  I  felt  God  in  his  word  re- 
quired of  me.  Week  after  week  did  I  wait  for  an  answer  ;  but 
none  came.  As  the  time  drew  near  when  I  was  to  return  to 
my  home  in  the  west,  knowing  that  there  was  no  church  with- 
in many  miles  of  it,  I  made  up  my  mind  to  confer  no  longer 
'"•  with  flesh  and  blood,"  but  to  obey  God  rather  than  man. 

Accordingly,  I  told  my  experience  to  the  Baptist  church  at 
Masonville,  and  was  received  as  a  candidate  for  baptism.  This 
was  in  the  month  of  February,  1819.  On  the  next  Lord's  day 
the  great  desire  of  my  heart  was  gratified :  I  was  buried  with 
Christ  in  baptism.  My  soul  experienced  an  ecstasy  of  delight. 
I  had  suffered  so  much  in  consequence  of  neglected  duties,  and 
had  overcome  so  many  obstructions  in  the  path  of  duty,  that 
the  consciousness  that  I  was  permitted  to  follow  the  example 
of  my  precious  Savior  seemed  to  make  this  day  the  happiest  of 
my  life.  I  wondered  how  I  could  have  neglected  this  beautiful 
ordinance  so  long.  For  some  time  after  this  I  never  came  near 
the  spot  without  thinking,  what  a  pleasure  it  would  be  to  be 
buried  again  in  the  same  symbolic  grave. 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP,  19 


CHAPTER    II. 

Return  Home.  —  Neighborhood  Efforts.  —  Choice  of  a  Calling.  —  7?e- 
turn  East  to  obtain  an  Education.  —  School  at  Masonville. — Visit 
to  Columbia  County,  and  Journey  back.  —  Academy  at  Gilbertsville. 

—  Economy. — A  Revival. — School-teaching  in  New  Lisbon. — 
Conflicts  as  to  Duty.  —  Hamilton  Institution.  —  Licensed  to  preach. 

—  Marriage  and  Pastorate  at  Springfield.  —  Second  Pastorate  at 
Watertown,  N.  Y.  —  Reflections  on  ministerial  Worldliness. 

WAS  now  nineteen  years  of  age.  It  being  the  custom  of 
my  father  to  give  his  sons  their  time  when  they  were  twenty 
years  old,  I  returned  to  my  father's  house,  and  remained  sub- 
ject to  him  during  the  appointed  time.  All  this  while  I  was 
thirsting  for  knowledge  and  better  qualifications  for  usefulness. 
My  mind  was  greatly  impressed  with  the  duty  and  the  desire 
of  preaching  the  gospel.  But  how  to  obtain  a  suitable  educa- 
tion I  did  not  know.  I  was  poor,  had  no  friends  who  could  or 
would  help  me,  and  was  not  aware  of  the  existence  of  any 
ministerial  education  society.  I  labored,  as  God  gave  me  oppor- 
tunity, according  to  my  ability.  Realizing  the  great  religious 
destitution  of  the  country  where  my  father  resided,  I  appointed 
prayer-meetings  in  the  neighborhood,  gathered  together  the  few 
scattered  sheep  in  this  portion  of  the  western  wilderness,  and 
was  encouraged  to  continue  in  these  efforts,  and  strengthened 
in  my  convictions  concerning  preaching  the  gospel,  because  it 
pleased  God  to  crown  these  humble  efforts  with  success  in  the 
conversion  of  several  souls.  » 

When  the  time  came  in  which  I  was  to  choose  my  path  in 
life,  my  father  offered  to  assist  me  quite  liberally,  considering 
his  means,  in  buying  a  farm  and  clearing  up  land.  My  broth- 
ers were  doing  so  with  flattering  prospects.  But  farms  and 


20  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

earthly  possessions  were  nothing  to  me.  A  nobler  ambition 
urged  me  on ;  and  yet,  pressed  down  with  a  sense  of  my  own 
insufficiency,  I  knew  not  how  to  achieve  it.  Still  I  felt  my  suf- 
ficiency to  be  of  God  ;  in  him  I  put  my  trust,  and  resolved  to  go 
forward.  I  believed  that  God  called  me  to  the  work  of  the 
ministry,  and  had  full  confidence  that  he  would  provide  a  way 
in  which  I  should  be  the  better  fitted  to  enter  upon  it. 

In  this  simple  faith  I  went  forth,  like  Abraham  of  old,  not 
knowing  whither  I  was  going,  or  how  I  should  be  able  to  reach 
the  end  of  my  journey.  I  merely  felt  that  in  case  I  could  get 
back  into  Delaware  County,  some  way  would  be  opened  in 
which  I  could  prosecute  my  desire  for  an  education.  In  this 
spirit  I  shouldered  my  pack,  took  leave  of  my  friends,  and  set 
my  face  towards  the  east.  As  I  passed  a  new  clearing  of  my 
elder  brother,  I  sat  down  on  a  log  and  lifted  up  my  heart  to  God 
in  prayer  that,"  during  my  absence,  my  own  mind  might  undergo 
as  great  an  improvement  as  his  farm  promised  to  present.  Hav- 
ing but  few  clothes  beyond  those  I  had  on  my  back,  only  five 
dollars  in  money,  and  a  journey  of  two  hundred  and  ten  miles 
to  perform,  I  resolved  to  save  every  penny  possible,  and  yet  p.'iy 
for  everything  I  received.  When  hungry  and  fatigued,  I  would 
seek  out  a  spring  of  water,  and,  sitting  down  by  its  side,  would 
refresh  myself  with  provisions  from  my  knapsack.  In  this  man- 
ner I  accomplished  my  journey  at  a  cost  of  only  fifty  cents, 
having  saved  four  dollars  and  fifty  cents  with  which  to  com- 
mence my  education  for  the  ministry. 

When  I  reached  Masonville  I  found  a  place  at  once,  where  I 
could  obtain  board  and  lodging  by  doing  the  chores  of  the  family. 
Here  I  continued,  pursuing  my  studies,  for  a  short  time  ;  when 
one  of  my  uncles,  residing  in  Columbia  County,  invited  me  to 
go  home  with  him  and  attend  school  there.  I  did  so,  and  re- 
mained with  him  till  about  the  breaking  up  of  winter.  By  this 
time  I  was  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  do,  for  I  was  nearly  out 
of  clothing,  and  had  no  means  wherewith  to  buy  more.  I  con- 
cluded to  return  to  Delaware  County,  and  engage  in  the  work 
of  rafting  lumber,  until  I  could  earn  sufficient  for  the  renewal 
of  my  wardrobe  and  the  expenses  of  another  winter's  tuition. 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  21 

I  started  on  my  journey  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  on 
foot,  with  but  twenty-five  cents  iu  my  pocket.  It  rained  severely 
all  day  ;  but  I  trudged  on,  till  I  reached  the  Hudson  River.  Here 
I  paid  one  half  of  my  twenty-five  cents  for  ferriage  across.  With 
one  half  of  the  remainder  I  paid  for  my  night's  lodging.  Through- 
out the  next  day  I  continued  on  through  a  drenching  rain,  for  I 
could  not  afford  to  wait  over.  Towards  night  I  fell  in  with  a  man 
in  a  wagon  who  asked  me  to  ride.  But  this  apparent  relief  turned 
out  to  my  greater  disadvantage  ;  for  while  we  were  stopping  to 
feed  the  horse,  a  dog  stole  the  bundle  containing  my  few  clothes 
and  provisions.  Here,  then,  I  was,  tired  and  hungry,  among 
strangers,  with  no  money,  and  no  one  to  befriend  me.  I  inquired 
for  a  chance  for  labor,  but  could  learn  of  none.  I  went  on  my 
way  until  ten  o'clock  at  night.  I  then  called  for  lodgings,  for 
which  I  paid  my  last  sixpence,  going  to  bed  hungry  and  getting  up 
hungry.  On  the  next  day  I  pursued  my  journey  till  about  twelve 
o'clock,  when  I  reached  the  house  of  a  friend,  by  whom  my 
necessities  were  relieved.  During  all  these  distresses  my  confi- 
dence in  God  remained  unshaken,  and  I  counted  them  as  nothing 
if  I  could  only  accomplish  my  purpose. 

I  then  hired  myself -out  to  a  man,  with  whom  I  was  to  raft 
and  run  lumber  to  Philadelphia.  The  water  fell  and  left  us  on 
the  way.  He  failed,  and  I  lost  the  principal  part  of  my  wages. 

Shortly  after  my  return  from  this  adventure,  I  heard  of  an 
academy  at  Gilbertsville,  Otsego  County ;  and  trusting  in  God 
to  direct  my  steps  and  help  me  on,  I  arrived  at  this  place 
near  the  end  of  April,  1821,  with  but  few  clothes  for  the  sum- 
mer, and  about  money  enough  to  pay  for  one  quarter's  tuition. 
I  called  on  Mr.  Collins,  the  principal  of  the  Institution,  and 
made  known  to  him  my  situation  and  my  wishes.  He  seemed 
to  take  an  interest  in  my  case,  and  recommended  me  to  several 
families,  who,  he  thought,  might  be  willing  to  let  me  do  work 
about  the  house  for  my  board.  But  after  making  several  fruit- 
less applications,  Mr.  Collins  told  me  that  I  might  board  with 
him,  do  what  few  chores  he  needed  to  have  done,  and  pay  him 
iu  full  whenever  I  was  able  to  do  so.  I  felt  extremely  grateful 


22  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

for  his  kindness,  but  yet  I  could  hardly  endure  the  thought  of 
running  in  debt.  However,  I  concluded  to  accept  the  offer,  and 
accordingly  commenced  my  studies. 

Not  being  accustomed  to  study  closely,  my  mind  being  alto- 
gether undisciplined,  I  made  only  slow  progress  in  acquiring 
knowledge.  I  was  often  reminded  of  the  remark  of  my  father, 
as  I  was  leaving  home,  —  that  he  feared,  if  I  went  off  among  the 
Baptists  with  a  notion  of  preaching,  I  would  spend  two  or 
three  years  making  out  nothing,  and  would  come  back  poor  and 
disgusted.  Daily  did  I  repair  to  the  grove  north  of  the  acad- 
emy, and  pour  out  my  soul  in  prayer  to  God  to  strengthen  my 
memory,  discipline  my  mind,  and  aid  me  in  my  studies.  In 
this  grove  I  shed  many  tears  and  enjoyed  many  seasons  of  com- 
munion with  God.  I  applied  myself  to  study  with  diligence, 
and  practised  a  rigid  economy,  going  in  my  shirt  sleeves  in  order 
to  save  my  coat  for  the  winter. 

At  the  close  of  the  first  quarter  I  went  to  work  through 
harvest  season,  by  which  means  I  was  able  to  provide  for  the 
expenses  of  the  ensuing  term,  and  as  the  evenings  lengthened  I 
chopped  wood  by  moonlight  to  obtain  articles  I  could  not  do 
without. 

During  the  second  term  I  attended  the  Baptist  meeting  on  the 
hill ;  and  as  they  had  no  minister,  I  was  called  upon  to  take 
charge  of  the  meetings.  It  pleased  the  Lord  to  pour  out  his 
Spirit  gloriously.  When  I  first  went  there,  there  was  but  one 
youth  in  the  place  who  professed  religion,  and  within  about  two 
months  nearly  all  the  young  people  in  the  place  were  converted 
to  God.  Towards  the  close  of  this  quarter  I  began  to  feel  more 
than  ever  straitened  as  to  what  course  to  pursue.  I  was  not 
able  to  earn  enough  during  vacations  to  meet  the  necessary  ex- 
penses of  term  time,  nor  did  I  feel  myself  competent  to  teach 
school  in  that  vicinity.  While  I  was  thinking  and  praying 
about  it,  the  Lord  inclined  the  hearts  of  the  good  sisters  of  the 
place  to  prepare  me  a  suit  of  clothes  for  the  winter  ;  besides,  I 
had  several  invitations  from  brethren,  both  Baptist  and  Presby- 
terian, to  board  a  few  weeks  in  their  families.  In  this  manner,  I 


ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  23 

was  enabled  to  pursue  ray  studies  until  some  time  in  January, 
when  I  received  and  accepted  a  request  to  take  charge  of  a 
school  in  New  Lisbon,  Otsego  County.  Here  the  Lord  was 
pleased  to  bless  my  efforts  for  the  conversion  of  the  children 
connected  with  my  school.  In  particular  do  I  remember  one 
instance  in  which  a  son  of  a  Romanist  professed  his  faith  in 
Christ,  even  though  taken  from  school  because  prayer  and  reli- 
gious instruction  were  maintained  there.  During  this  winter  I 
spent  my  evenings  in  holding  meetings  in  different  neighbor- 
hoods (Jhough  I  did  not  pretend  to  preach),  and  God  was  with 
me,  and  many  souls  were  converted. 

But  as  the  winter  began  to  wear  away,  I  felt  it  to  be  necessary 
for  me  to  decide  whether  I  should  preach  the  gospel,  or  abandon 
the  thought  of  it  altogether.  A  sense  of  my  insufficiency  Avas 
ever  bearing  upon  my  spirits,  and,  yielding  to  the  impression 
which  it  produced,  at  length  I  concluded  to  give  up  the  idea, 
and  turn  my  attention  to  some  other  pursuit.  But  no  sooner 
had  I  reached  this  decision,  than  trouble  rolled  in  upon  ma  like 
a  flood.  I  was  well  nigh  driven  to  despair.  One  night,  es- 
pecially, I  remained  concealed  behind  the  seats  of  the  school- 
room, while  being  occupied  for  purposes  of  worship,  lest  I 
should  be  called  on  to  take  part  in  the  exercises,  and  so  con- 
tinued unobserved  till  the  meeting  was  dispersed.  I  staid  all 
night  in  the  school-house,  and  all  the  next  morning  till  the  hour 
for  school  arrived.  My  mind  was  in  no  fit  condition  for  the 
proper  discharge  of  the  duties  of  my  station,  and  I  could  not 
refrain  from  tears  in  the  presence  of  my  scholars.  I  dismissed 
the  school  with  a  determination  to  remain  in  the  building  all  the 
next  night,  although  thirty-six  hours  had  then  elapsed  since  I 
had  tasted  food.  But  about  dark  one  of  the  brethren  came 
after  me,  concluding,  from  a  statement  of  one  of  the  children, 
that  something  was  the  matter  with  me.  I  dared  not,  however, 
open  my  mind  to  any  one  respecting  my  impressions,  so  that  I 
could  gain  but  little  relief  from  the  sympathies  of  friends. 

But  "  man's  extremity  is  God's  opportunity."  On  the  next 
day,  on  going  to  the  post-office,  I  found  a  letter,  which  proved  to 


24  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

be  from  Hamilton,  Madison  County,  inviting  me  to  visit  the 
Institution,*  which  had  been  recently  established  there  for  the 
purpose  of  educating  young  men  desirous  of  entering  the  Bap- 
tist ministry,  and  encouraging  me  to  attempt  a  regular  course 
of  study.  I  then  saw  that  God,  in  his  providence,  was  opening 
the  way  for  me,  and  that  all  I  had  to  do  was  to  trust  him  and 
move  forward. 

I  also  felt  greatly  rebuked  for  my  past  distrust  and  unbelief.  I 
wept  and  prayed  ;  "  thanked  God  and  took  courage."  Yet  there 
was  one  thing  that  still  troubled  me.  Before  I  could  be  admit- 
ted into  the  Institution  at  Hamilton,  it  was  needful  that  I  obtain 
from  the  church  of  which  I  was  a  member  a  formal  license  to 
preach.  To  proceed  in  this  matter  myself  seemed  a  formidable 
undertaking.  In  those  days  the  prevailing  opinion  among  Bap- 
tists was,  that  if  a  young  man  was  truly  called  of  God  to  preach, 

*  In  the  year  1812,  Rev.  Daniel  Hascall,  pastor  of  the  Baptist  church 
at  Hamilton,  and  Rev.  Nathaniel  Kendrick,  pastor  of  the  church  at  Eaton, 
in  mutual  conference,  conceived  the  idea  of  an  Education  Society,  in 
aid  of  indigent  young  men  desirous  of  studying  for  the  ministry.  The 
Society  was  organized  in  1817,  and  chartered  in  1819  under  the  name 
and  style  of  the  Baptist  Education  Society  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
Under  the  auspices  of  this  Society,  Hamilton  Literary  and  Theological 
Institution  was  founded  in  1820.  Hascall  was  appointed  the  classical 
and  Kendrick  the  theological  instructor.  Hascall  continued  sixteen 
years,  and  resigned ;  Kendrick,  twenty-eight  years,  and  died.  The  Bap- 
tist denomination  will  hold  the  names  of  these  venerable  men  of  God  in 
everlasting  remembrance. 

For  a  considerable  period  the  course  of  instruction  comprised  four 
years,  afterwards  six,  and  finally  eight.  About  1846,  the  Institution  was 
chartered  as  Madison  University.  In  addition  to  sending  out  multitudes 
of  young  men  into  the  Christian  ministry,  this  noble  Institution  is 
identified  with  the  founding  of  Rochester  University,  New  York,  and  of 
Lewisburg  University,  Pennsylvania,  besides  being  the  grand  pioneer  in 
the  culture  of  that  zeal  for  ministerial  education  which  now  constitutes 
one  of  the  glories  of  the  Baptist  denomination. 

Madison  University  still  maintains  her  educational  prestige,  and  her 
hold  on  the  gratitude  and  confidence  of  the  denomination,  whose  present 
greatness  is  owing,  under  God,  so  much  to  agencies  which  have  made  her 
name  illustrious. 


ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  25 

he  would  be  unable  to  restrain  the  expression  of  his  convictions. 
It  was  deemed  a  sort  of  interference  with  the  work  of  the  Spirit 
for  any  of  the  brethren  to  introduce  the  subject,  and  afford  any 
encouragement.  But  my  views  of  my  own  insufficiency  were 
so  oppressive,  and  my  dread  of  being  rejected  so  intense,  that  it 
was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  I  could  bring  my  mind  to 
broach  the  matter,  and  ask  the  church  to  grant  me  a  license. 

At  length,  however,  I  concluded  to  do  so.  Accordingly  I 
closed  my  school,  and,  going  to  Masonville,  opened  my  mind  to 
one  of  the  deacons.  He  named  it  to  others  of  the  brethren, 
and  the  church  invited  me  to  preach  before  them.  And  in  com- 
plying with  this  invitation,  I  made  my  first  formal  attempt  at 
sermonising.  This  was  in  the  spring  of  1822.  The  church, 
after  hearing  me  once,  gave  me  a  license,  and  recommended  me 
to  the  Institution  at  Hamilton,  informing  me  (to  my  surprise) 
that  it  had  long  been  the  opinion  of  the  brethren  that  I  ought  to 
devote  myself  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  Immediately,  I 
started  on  foot  for  Hamilton,  a  distance  of  about  fifty  miles. 

Shortly  after  my  entrance  into  the  Institution,  Professor  Has- 
call  requested  me  to  preach  in  a  neighboring  school-house. 
Overwhelmed  with  a  sense  of  my  inability,  I  took  the  stand 
and  announced  my  text.  But  no  sooner  had  the  words  passed 
from  my  lips,  than  my  eye  fell  on  the  form  of  my  venerable 
instructor.  His  presence  entirely  unmanned  me.  I  man- 
aged»  amid  much  confusion  of  thought,  to  get  through  the  dis- 
course, fully  expecting  that  he  would  advise  me  to  give  up  the 
thought  of  preaching,  and  leave  thei  Institution.  After  wait- 
ing some  time,  and  hearing  nothing  from  him,  I  ventured  to  call 
upon  him,  and  unburden  my  heart  of  its  apprehensions  and 
misgivings.  Instead,  however,  of  discouraging  me,. he  bade  me 
go  on.  Shortly  after  this  I  was  sent  to  preach,  on  the  Sabbath, 
to  the  church  in  Morrisville,  the  county  seat.  This  was  the  first 
instance  in  which  I  had  been  asked  to  preach  in  a  meeting- 
house. The  thought  of  doing  so  filled  me  with  fear  and  trem- 
bling. But  the  Lord  strengthened  me,  and  gave  me  liberty. 

As  I  had  not  been  accustomed  to  study  in  early  life,  I  found 
4 


26  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

it  very  difficult  for  a  time  to  keep  up  with  some  of  my  class- 
mates in  the  lessons.  Yet  I  applied  myself  with  diligence,  and 
as  I  was  blessed  with  a  good  constitution,  and  maintained 
vigorous  exercise,  I  was  enabled  to  go  through  the  course 
without  impairing  my  health.  In  the  month  of  June,  1825,  I 
received  my  diploma,  and  accepted  a  call  from  the  Baptist 
church  in  Springfield,  Otsego  County,  N.  Y.  On  the  first  day 
of  the  September  following  I  was  married  to  Electa  Payne, 
of  Hamilton.  One  week  previous  to  my  marriage  I  was  or- 
dained. 

During  my  studies  at  the  Institution  my  spirituality  declined, 
and  I  entered  quite  deeply  into  the  spirit  of  a  man-pleasing  policy. 
I  fancied  that  the  gospel  might  be  so  preached  as  not  to  give 
offence.  It  seemed  to  me  that  it  might  be  made  attractive 
to  men  by  means  of  its  external  appointments.  I  imagined 
that  fine  meeting-houses,  tall  steeples,  good  bells,  and  smooth 
sermons  were  calculated  to  make  the  religion  of  Christ 
popular.  Alas !  I  did  not  then  realize  that  the  prophets  and 
apostles,  John  the  Baptist,  and  Jesus  Christ  himself,  were  not 
able  to  preach  the  truth  without  causing  many  to  be  offended. 
Nor  did  I  understand  that  in  every  age  in  which  the  church  had 
striven  to  make  herself  acceptable  to  the  world,  to  the  same 
degree  had  she  been  deprived  of  her  beauty  and  her  power. 
O  !  when  will  ministers  and  Christians  learn  that  the  "  carnal 
mind  is  enmity  against  God,"  and  a  true  presentation  of  the 
gospel  consists  not  in  flattering  the  natural  taste  of  the  unsancti- 
fied  heart,  but  by  "  manifestation  of  the  truth,  commending  it 
to  every  man's  conscience  in  the  sight  of  God  "  ? 

During  the  first  year  of  my  pastorate,  I  devoted  my  time 
wholly  to  my  work ;  nor  were  my  labors  entirely  devoid  of  God's 
blessing.  The  numerous  difficulties  which  had  long  existed  in 
the  church  were  settled,  and  the  number  of  members  and  attend- 
ants increased.  After  a  while,  however,  under  the  advice  of 
my  brethren  in  the  church,  and  influenced  by  the  example  of 
other  ministers,  I  was  induced  to  purchase  a  small  farm,  suppos- 
ing that  I  could  carry  on  the  work  of  farming  without  detract- 


ELDER  JACOB  KXAPP.  27 

ing  from  the  efficiency  of  my  services  as  a  pastor.  Nor  did  I 
really  find  out  my  mistake  during  my  stay  with  this  people. 
Though  there  was  no  general  breaking  forth  of  God's  power, 
yet  there  was  a  prevailing  state  of  harmony,  and  about  sixty 
conversions.  These  results  I  tried  to  accept  as  grounds  of  en- 
couragement, and  evidences  that  I  was  in  the  path  of  duty. 

After  serving  this  church  five  years,  I  accepted  a  call  from 
the  Baptist  church  in  Watertown,  Jefferson  County,  N.  Y.,  and 
entered  upon  my  labors  there  in  the  month  of  September,  1830. 
My  family  being  at  that  time  small,  I  did  not  for  the  first  year 
keep  house,  and  was,  therefore,  free  from  household  cares,  and 
enabled  to  devote  myself  exclusively  to  my  pastoral  work.  The 
Lord  was  with  me.  A  revival  of  religion  marked  the  very  be- 
ginning of  my  labors,  and  continued  for  about  one  year.  The 
church  being  small  and  poor,  they  failed  to  give  me  enough  for 
the  current  support  of  my  family.  And  it  will  be>a  matter  of 
life-long  regret  that  I  did  not  trust  more  implicitly  in  God  for 
my  sustenance,  and  concern  myself  only  about  my  Master's  busi- 
ness. Had  I  done  so,  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  my  family  would 
have  suffered  no  lack,  and  my  ministerial  work  would  have  been 
attended  with  much  greater  success.  Instead  of  doing  this,  I 
again  bought  a  farm  near  the  village,  thinking  that  I  could  su- 
perintend it  without  any  serious  disparagement  of  my  usefulness. 
But  the  experiment  proved  to  be  a  great  hinderance,  alike  to  my 
own  piety  and  the  growth  of  the  church.  Though,  during  a  min- 
istry of  three  years  with  this  people,  I  baptized  into  the  fellow- 
ship of  the  church  about  two  hundred  converts,  yet  towards 
the  end  of  that  time  I  began  to  feel  that  I  was  unfaithful  to  my 
trust,  that  I  was  entangling  myself  with  the  affairs  of  this  life, 
and  that  God  was  displeased  with  my  course. 


28  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 


CHAPTER    III. 

Protracted  Meetings  a  Novelty.  —  Resolution  to  become  an  Evan- 
gelist. —  Counting  the  Cost.  —  Resignation  of  Pastorate.  —  Results 
of  the  Labors  of  eighteen  Months  among  the  Churches.  —  Trials.  — 
Opposition.  —  Pecuniary  Losses.  —  Application  to  the  State  Con- 
vention. —  Application  rejected.  —  Mortification  of  Feelings.  — 
Fasting  and  Prayer.  —  God's  Presence  and  Direction.  —  Blessed 
Results.  —  Trust  in  God  for  Support.  —  Method  of  preparing 
Sermons.  —  Re-conversions  needful. 

ABOUT  this  time,  1833,  Ihe  practice  of  holding  protracted 
meetings  began  to  enter  in  amongst  the  Baptist  churches. 
These  were  of  rare  occurrence,  and  generally  looked  upon 
with  distrust  and  opposition.  There  prevailed  among  Bap- 
tists, views  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  con- 
version of  men,  which  led  to  a  practical  denial  of  the  necessity 
of  all  human  agency  in  bringing  sinners  to  consider  the  claims 
of  the  gospel.  The  theology  of  that  day  was,  that  God  evinced 
his  sovereignty  independently  of  means,  rather  than  through 
them ;  that  human  agencies  were  interferences  with  the  divine 
purposes,  and  that  all  experiences  that  might  result  from  the  use 
of  means  were  to  be  rejected  as  "  man-made  "  conversions. 

As  might  be  expected,  such  teachings  worked  out  their  results 
in  the  spiritual  apathy  of  professors  of  religion,  in  the  absence 
of  any  great  concern  for  the  salvation  of  men,  and  in  the  paucity 
of  the  numbers  that  were  being  added  to  the  churches.  But  as 
the  news  of  the  outpouring  of  God's  Spirit  in  connection  with 
these  "  protracted  "  efforts,  reached  me,  my  own  soul  was  set  on 
fire  with  zeal  for  the  spread  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  I  looked 
upon  the  past  eight  years  of  my  ministry  as  comparatively  wasted. 
I  felt  that  I  had  turned  aside  for  "  filthy  lucre."  My  motives 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  29 

seemed  to  have  been  impure.  I  thought  I  would  have  given 
worlds  for  the  lost  opportunities  which  I  had  failed  to  improve. 
And  regarding  the  care  of  my  farm  as  a  burden  and  a  hin- 
derance,  I  embraced  the  first  opportunity  of  selling  it,  in  the  fol- 
lowing spring,  at  great  pecuniary  sacrifice.  Thus  I  broke  from 
all  worldly  concerns,  and  consecrated  myself  anew  to  the  service 
of  God.  I  viewed  the  unconverted  as  toppling  on  the  brink  of 
hell,  and  many  of  the  churches,  and  ministers  too,  as  sleeping  at 
their  post.  I  felt  a  special  moving  of  soul  that  God  called  me  to 
devote  the  remainder  of  my  life  to  the  direct  work  of  an  evangelist 
among  the  churches  ;  striving  to  awaken  them  to  the  necessity  of 
a  higher  standard  of  active  piety  in  laboring  directly  for  the  im- 
mediate conversion  of  men.  This  conviction  became  the  neces- 
sity of  my  nature,  and  I  could  not  resist  it.  I  saw  no  alterna- 
tive. God  clearly  bade  me  go  forth  into  fields  already  white  for 
the  harvest,  and  I  was  not  disobedient  to  the  heavenly  vision. 

Yet  it  is  proper  to  state,  that  I  did  not  reach  this  conclusion 
without  counting  the  cost.  I  saw  that  I  should  be  cutting  my- 
self loose  from  any  certain  and  regular  source  of  support.  Many 
of  the  churches  were  so  feeble  as  to  find  it  a  matter  of  great  dif- 
ficulty to  raise  the  meagre  salaries  they  had  promised  to  their 
pastors  ;  and,  at  the  best,  very  few  had  even  approximate  con- 
ceptions of  the  duty  and  blessedness  of  liberality  in  supporting 
the  gospel ;  and,  withal,  I  knew  I  must  meet  with  great  opposition 
from  many  in  the  churches,  who  would  denounce  my  endeavors 
as  "  new-fangled  measures  ;  "  and  much  ridicule  from  ungodly 
men,  who  would  make  common  cause  with  these  Sanballat  sort 
of  Christians  in  hindering  the  work  of  God.  But  "  none  of 
these  things  moved  me."  I  resolved  to  forsake  houses  and 
lands,  wife  and  children,  and  go  forth,  trusting  in  God  for  the 
support  of  my  family,  and  relying  on  his  promises  of  grace  to 
help  in  every  time  of  need. 

On  the  first  Sabbath  in  September,  1833,  I  preached  my 
farewell  sermon  to  the  dear  people  of  my  charge,  and  found  it 
no  small  trial  to  tear  myself  away  from  their  endearments, 
aud  especially  from  the  precious  lambs  which  had  been  brought 


30  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

to  hope  in  Christ  through  my  labors.  Leaving  my  family  in 
Watertown,  I  spent  the  following  eighteen  months  in  visiting 
the  churches  of  Jefferson  and  Lewis  Counties,  and  laboring 
with  them  in  protracted  meetings.  God  was  with  me,  and  con- 
verts were  multiplied.  His  Spirit  was  poured  out  plenteously  in 
nearly  every  place  in  which  I  labored.  My  services  were  not 
confined  to  Baptist  churches,  but  in  Presbyterian  and  Methodist 
churches  I  preached  repentance  and  faith  as  God  gave  me  op- 
portunity. It  was  thought  by  some,  who  were  counted  reliable 
judges,  that  not  less  than  two  thousand  souls  were  converted 
during  these  eighteen  months.  As  near  as  I  can  now  remem- 
ber, I  baptized  over  four  hundred  converts  into  the  fellowship 
of  churches  which  were  at  the  time  destitute  of  pastors. 

But  notwithstanding  all  these  powerful  attestations  of  God's 
approval,  I  was  called  on  to  encounter  great  opposition,  alike 
from  professed  Christians  and  the  avowed  enemies  of  Christ ; 
ay,  even  from  ministers  of  the  gospel.  My  motives  were  im- 
pugned ;  my  sermons  were  dissected,  and  detached  sentences 
were  taken  from  their  connection  and  set  forth  in  distorted 
forms ;  and  the  religious  journals  were  closed  to  any  accounts 
of  the  "  wonderful  works  of  God."  About  this  time,  also,  I  met 
with  several  severe  losses  in  pecuniary  matters,  so-as  to  render 
my  reliance  for  support  still  more  precarious.  Altogether  the 
occasions  of  my  rejoicing  in  view  of  my  successes  in  laboring 
for  the  conversion  of  sinners,  was  challenged  by  a  series  of  con- 
flicts and  trials  which  hitherto  I  had  not  dreamed  of,  and  which 
I  found  to  be  exceedingly  distressing.  It  seemed  as  though  all 
the  devils  in  hell  were  let  loose  upon  me,  until  I  could  almost 
say  with  Dr.  Payson,  "  The  Lord  has  taken  from  me  one  thing 
after  another,  until  there  remains  no  more  to  be  taken,  and  dis- 
appointed me  in  one  way  after  another,  until  I  am  no  longer 
capable  of  disappointment." 

At  length  I  was  advised,  by  Dr.  Nathaniel  Kendrick,*  to 
take  an  appointment  from  the  Board  of  the  Baptist  Missionary 

*  Then,  and  for  many  years  afterwards,  the  revered  Principal  of  the 
Hamilton  Literary  and  Theological  Institution. 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  31 

Convention  of  the  State  of  New  York,*  as  an  evangelist  in  Jef- 
ferson and  Oswego  Counties.  I  thought  favorably  of  this 
suggestion,  imagining  that  such  an  appointment  would  increase 
my  influence  and  tend  to  silence  my  opposers.  I  therefore  went 
to  the  meeting  of  the  Convention,  about  a  hundred  and  forty 
miles  distant.  I  had  not  mingled  with  the  brethren  long,  before 
I  found  that  some,  whom  I  had  counted  as  friends,  were  disposed 
to  treat  me  with  coolness.  Though  indorsed  by  such  a  man  as 
Dr.  Kendrick,  whose  weight  of  personal  influence  was  every- 
where recognized,  yet  my  application  was  instantly  met  by  a 
decided  opposition.  One  must  tell  what  he  had  heard,  another 
explain  his  views  of  the  gospel  method,  until,  after  a  lengthy 
debate,  in  which  some  cried  one  thing  and  some  another,  it 
was  resolved  to  refer  the  question  of  my  appointment  to  a  com- 
mittee. This  committee  made  an  adverse  report,  and  my 
application  was  rejected.  Overwhelmed  with  grief  and  morti- 
fication, I  started  to  fill  an  engagement  to  preach  in  Loraine, 
a  distance  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  The  Lord 
brought  me  safely  on  my  way  some  fifty  miles,  when  my  horse 
sickened  and  died.  I  got  a  brother  to  take  me  to  Oswego,  and 
then  I  went  on  board  a  boat  for  Sackett's  Harbor.  Shortly 
after  we  had  started,  "  there  arose  a  mighty  tempest,"  and  for 
a  while  there  appeared  but  little  chance  for  any  of  our  lives. 
But  my  own  spirits  were  so  depressed  that  I  seemed  to  have 
little  choice  between  life  and  death.  I  thought  myself  "  in  perils 
by  sea,  in  perils  by  land,  and  in  perils  by  false  brethren."  But 
God  preserved  me  for  greater  joys  and  greater  sorrows  than 
any  I  had  hitherto  experienced. 

For  a  short  time  the  effect  of  my  rejection  by  the  Board  of 
the  Convention  was  very  disheartening.  I  had  hoped  to  secure, 
by  an  appointment,  greater  influence  among  the  churches,  the 
more  positive  countenance  of  some  of  the  ministers  who  hitherto 
had  been  sitting  on  the  fence,  hesitating  as  to  which  side  to  get 
down  on,  and  also  to  silence  the  active  opposition  of  those  who 

*  The  object  of  this  Convention  is  the  raising  and  furnishing  of  funds 
in  aid  of  feehle  churches  throughout  the  State. 


32  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

had  avowed  their  hostility  to  my  course ;  but  it  was  not  long 
before  I  found  that  my  difficulties  in  these  directions  were  on 
the  increase.  The  non-committal  became  outspoken  against 
me,  and  those  heretofore  opposed  became  violent  and  abusive. 
My  soul  was  in  deep  trouble,  and  I  knew  not  which  way 
to  turn. 

But  in  my  distress  I  cast  my  burdens  on  the  Lord.  I  sought 
to  know  the  will  of  God.  I  cried  unto  the  Lord  ;  and,  blessed 
be  his  name,  very  soon  he  made  known  his  ways,  and  lifted 
upon  me  the  light  of  his  countenance.  After  spending  one  whole 
day  in  fasting  and  prayer,  and  continuing  my  fast  till  midnight, 
the  place  where  I  was  staying,  was  filled  with  the  manifested 
glory  of  God.  His  presence  appeared  to  me,  not  exactly  in 
visible  form,  but  as  really  to  my  recognition  as  though  he  had 
come  in  person,  and  a  voice  seemed  to  say  to  me,  "  Hast  thou 
ever  lacked  a  field  in  which  to  labor?"  I  answered,  "Not  a 
day."  "Have  I  not  sustained  thee,  and  blessed  thy  labors?" 
I  answered,  "  Yea,  Lord."  "  Then  learn  that  henceforth  thou 
art  not  dependent  on  thy  brethren,  but  on  me.  Have  no  con- 
cern but  to  go  on  in  thy  work.  My  grace  shall  be  sufficient 
for  thee." 

From  that  night  I  felt  willing  to  sacrifice  the  good  opinion  of 
my  brethren,  as  I  had  previously  sacrificed  the  favor  of  the 
world,  and  swing  off  from  all  dependences  but  God.  Up  to  this 
time  I  had  concerned  myself  too  much  about  the  opinions  of 
other  and  older  brethren,  distrusting  my  youth  and  inexperience. 
But  the  Lord  taught  me  that  he  was  my  only  infallible  guide. 
I  joyously  acquiesced  in  his  will ;  and  from  that  day  to  this  have 
rested  in  this  divine  manifestation.  Ah  !  how  reluctant  we  are 
to  cleave  to  the  Lord !  How  prone  to  cling  to  creature  de- 
pendences !  Since  I  have  endeavored  to  seek  divine  direction 
as  to  all  my  fields  of  labor,  I  have  learned  that  it  is  possible  for 
me,  generally,  to  gain  as  clear  impressions  of  the  will  of  God 
concerning  my  duty  as  though  it  was  announced  in  audible 
tones. 

In  this  manifestation  of  God's  presence  to  me,  he  cast  no  re« 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  33 

flections  on  those  of  my  ministerial  brethren  who  differed  from 
me,  but,  in  the  most  tender  manner,  bade  me  leave  them  to  pur- 
sue their  own  way,  and  cleave  only  to  him.  Thus  was  I,  cured 
of  all  yearnings  for  denominational  promotion,  led  to  make  an 
unreserved  consecration  of  all  my  powers  to  the  one  end,  —  the 
conversion  of  men  to  Christ ;  and  made  willing  to  labor  on, 
through  evil  and  good  import,  leaving  my  vindication  till  the 
day  of  judgment. 

A  year  did  not  elapse  before  I  saw  plainly  that  God's  plan 
was  much  better  than  mine.  I  found  it  far  more  delightful 
and  profitable  to  my  soul  to  be  directed  by  God's  providence, 
where,  and  by  his  Spirit,  how  to  labor,  than  to  be  prescribed  in 
my  field,  and  dictated  to  as  to  how  to  conduct  my  ministry,  by 
others.  The  Lord  carried  me  from  place  to  place,  even  where  I 
had  the  least  expectation  of  going.  In  my  perplexities,  I  was 
driven  to  God  in  prayer  for  him  to  direct  my  steps,  and  mark 
out  every  inch  of  my  path.  And  I  have  been  led  to  under- 
stand since,  that  had  not  the  furnace  been  heated  seven  times 
hotter  than  it  was  wont  to  be,  the  dross  would  never  have  been 
separated  from  the  gold.  My  kind  and  heavenly  Father  did 
not  give  me  one  blow  that  was  not  needful,  nor  one  thorn  that 
was  not  required  to  keep  me  from  being  exalted  above  measure, 
through  the  abundance  of  my  success  in  winning  souls,  and 
the  many  flattering  expressions  of  those  who  sympathized  with 
my  work. 

The  churches  with  which  I  labored  were,  for  the  most  part, 
poor,  and  not  well  informed  in  relation  to  their  duty  of  support- 
ing the  ministry.  Sometimes  I  would  receive  thirty  or  forty 
dollars  at  the  close  of  a  protracted  meeting,  and  sometimes 
nothing.  I  made  up  my  mind,  when  I  started,  to  make  no 
demand,  to  do  nothing,  to  say  nothing,  in  reference  to  the  matter 
of  compensation,  but  to  leave  it  entirely  with  God  and  the  peo- 
ple. Sometimes,  after  a  hard,  long,  and  laborious  campaign,  I 
would  return  home  to  my  increasing  family  with  little  or  noth- 
ing ;  and  find  the  means  I  had  previously  accumulated  fast 
wearing  away,  and  my  wife  toiling  day  and  night  in  taking  care 


34  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

of  our  little  ones.  But  I  found  good  things  mixed  with  these 
apparently  evil  things.  My  wife  made  no  complaints,  but 
cheerfully  acquiesced  in  my  convictions  of  duty.  Besides,  I 
was  comforted  in  the  remembrance  of  the  charge  and  promise, 
"  Trust  in  the  Lord  and  do  good,  and  verily  thou  shalt  be  fed." 
"  Thy  bread  shall  be  given  thee,  and  thy  water  shall  be  sure." 
I  felt  that  I  would  prefer  to  live  on  bread  and  water,  and  do 
the  work  of  an  evangelist,  —  thus  making  full  proof  of  my 
ministry,  than  to  have  all  the  good  things  of  this  world.  I 
expected  soon  to  wear  out,  and  to  be  called  to  render  my 
account.  I  realized,  more  and  more,  how  deficient  I  was  in 
knowledge,  and  prayed  daily  for  wisdom  rather  than  riches  and 
long  life,  that  I  might  honor  God,  and  become  wise  to  win  souls. 
I  often  read  God's  offer  to  Solomon,  and  1  believed  that  he  would 
deal  in  the  same  way  now  as  then,  if  his  servants  would  plead 
in  faith. 

I  prayed  for  the  right  text,  for  the  best  divisions  of  it,  and  a 
true  understanding  of  it ;  and  I  have  always  found  those  sub- 
jects which  I  studied  in  those  days,  and  arranged  while  on  my 
knees,  have  been  the  most  powerful  for  good  ;  and  I  now  be- 
lieve that  there  is  a  kind  of  inspiration  about  sermous  thus 
gotten  up,  which  makes  them  "  mighty  through  God  to  the 
pulling  down  of  the  strongholds."  And  knowing,  as  I  did,  at 
the  beginning  of  my  labors  as  an  evangelist,  that  I  lacked  every- 
thing, I  pleaded  the  promise,  "If  any  man  lack  wisdom,  let 
him  ask  of  God,  who  giveth  liberally."  I  made  up  my  mind 
to  preach  against  sin  everywhere,  in  every  form,  and  in  every- 
body, and  take  the  consequences.  I  knew  I  had  no  reputation 
to  lose,  and  thought  I  had  none  to  gain ;  hence  I  intended  to 
stand  up  for  Jesus  everywhere,  on  all  occasions,  and  suffer 
shame  for  his  sake,  bear  the  reproach  of  his  cross,  and  count  it 
all  joy  that  I  was  thought  worthy  to*  suffer  for  his  name. 

I  soon  found  that  the  state  of  a  man's  heart  had  much  to  do 
with  his  judgment,  and  to  a  great  extent  controlled  his  senti- 
ments. A  cold-hearted  or  proud-spirited  minister  could  not  be 
in  sympathy  with  one  who  was  led  by  the  Spirit.  I  therefore 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  35 

never  attempted  to  lead  into  the  light  by  argument  those  who 
opposed  themselves.  Their  eyes  must  be  touched  a  second 
time,  before  they  can  see  clearly.  Jesus  said  to  Peter,  "  When 
thou  art  converted,  strengthen  thy  brethren  ;  "  and  evermore,  it 
seems  that  most  persons  need  re-conversions,  in  order  righlly 
to  understand  the  triths  of  God's  word,  or  the  plans  of  his 
providence. 


36  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 


CHAPTER    IV. 
CONDITION  OF  THE  CHURCHES  THEN  AND  NOW. 

Forty  Tears  ago.  —  No  Sunday  Schools.  —  No  Missionary  Enter- 
prise. —  Few  educational  Institutions.  —  No  Liberality.  —  Antino- 
mianism.  —  Elder  Benedict.  —  Influence  of  Evangelism.  —  Oppo- 
sition of  Hyper-Calvinism.  —  Spurious  Conversions.  —  Sudden 
Conversions.  —  A  doubting  Piety.  —  Jealousy.  —  Men-pleasers.  — 
Early  Discipline.  —  Consolation.  —  Success.  —  Sympathizers.  — 
Change  of  Public  Opinion. 

AT  this  point,  perhaps,  better  than  at  any  other,  I  may  pause 
in  my  narrative  to  invite  my  readers  to  a  consideration, 
more  at  length,  of  the  condition  of  the  churches  and  their  spirit 
at  the  time  when  I  began  to  labor  as  an  evangelist,  and  of  the 
contrast  which  the  state  of  religious  sentiment  in  this  age  pre- 
sents. Truly,  as  I  look  back  forty  years,  and  think  of  the 
marvellous  change  that  has  come  over  the  churches,  I  am 
ready  to  exclaim  with  wondering  gratitude,  "  What  hath  God 
wrought !  " 

Forty  years  ago  there  were  no  Sunday  schools.  The  mighty 
train  of  agencies  and  influences  which  now  move  along  the 
track  of  Sunday  school  efforts,  had  no  place  in  the  programme 
of  Christian  enterprise.  Now  such  institutions  are  regarded  as 
indispensable  appointments  in  every  church  ;  the  noblest  talents 
of  the  church  are  consecrated  to  the  instruction  of  the  teeming 
throngs  of  youth  that  crowd  the  gates  of  Zion  ;  and  by  far  the 
greater  proportion  of  those  who  join  the  church  are  gathered 
from  the  ranks  of  the  Sunday  school.  Among  Baptists  this 
blessed  agency  was  almost  unheard  of,  nor  was  there  any  other 
appointment  designed  to  take  its  place. 

Forty  years  ago  the  cause  of  foreign  and  home  missions  had 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  37 

scarcely  place  in  the  arrangements  or  sympathies  of  the  vast 
proportion  of  our  churches.  As  a  matter  of  course,  there  was 
scarcely  a  missionary  or  a  conversion  among  the  heathen,  and 
but  little  money  raised  with  which  to  send  them.  The  mis- 
sionary enterprise  was  then  in  its  infancy,  and  battling  its  way 
through  prejudice  and  ignorance  to  the  consciences  of  Christian 
men.  Since  then  our  denomination  has  leaped  to  a  front  rank 
in  the  grand  instrumentalities  for  the  world's  conversion.  Our 
missionaries,  home  and  foreign,  are  dotting  the  world.  Multi- 
tudes of  souls  at  home,  and  in  heathen  lands,  have  been  led  to 
Christ.  Churches  all  over  our  western  territory,  and  amid  the 
valleys,  mountains,  and  jungles  of  India,  are  monuments  of  our 
missionary  zeal ;  and  every  year  our  churches  are  sending  up 
increasing  sums  to  the  treasury  of  the  Lord. 

Forty  years  ago  there  was  not  more  than  one  or  two  institu- 
tions of  learning  under  the  auspices  of  our  denomination,  and 
societies  for  the  education  of  young  men  for  the  ministry  were 
just  struggling  into  life.  Now  both  colleges  and  education 
societies  are  multiplying  in  numbers,  or  increasing  in  power  in 
the  older  states,  and  springing  up  as  by  magic  in  the  new. 

Forty  years  ago  the  churches  had  no  idea  of  the  obligations 
and  blessedness  of  Christian  liberality.  The  ministers  were 
compelled,  for  the  most  part,  to  engage  in  farming  or  other 
business  pursuits,  in  order  to  eke  out  the  beggarly  salaries  on 
which  the  churches  were  willing  to  starve  them ;  and,  in  short, 
the  entire  spirit  of  Christian  enterprise  was  wanting. 

As  we  contemplate  the  amazing  differences  in  these  regards 
at  the  present  time,  and  try  to  imagine  the  bearings  of  the 
mighty  forces  now  in  operation  on  the  future  of  the  world's 
conversion,  I  ask,  Is  there  one  intelligent  Christian  who  would 
wish  to  annihilate  these  grand  agencies,  obliterate  this  glorious 
history,  and  place  the  churches  and  the  denomination  back  into 
the  condition  it  occupied  forty  years  ago  ?  It  is  not  difficult  to 
imagine  what  would  have  been  the  history  of  the  denomination 
by  this  time,  had  the  opinions  then  prevalent  continued  to  main- 
tain their  ascendency.  The  history  of  these  results  is  already 


88  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

written  in  the  fate  of  those  churches  where  the  blight  of  reli- 
gious apathy  remained  undisturbed.  In  the  beginning  of  this 
century  there  were  numerous  Baptist  churches  in  Maryland ;  a 
few  years  ago  there  were  only  seven,  and  of  these  outside  of 
Baltimore  it  might  truly  have  been  said,  "  They  have  a  name 
to  live  while  they  are  dead."  In  certain  parts  of  Eastern  New 
York,  the  territory  once  held  by  Baptists  has  been  taken  up  by 
other  denominations,  and  the  Baptist  name  itself  has  become  a 
byword  and  a  reproach. 

In  looking  for  an  explanation  of  this  wide-spread  apathy  and 
inefficiency  among  the  churches  in  former  years,  it  is  readily 
found  in  the  fact  that  they,  nearly  all,  had  drank  in  the  spirit  of 
Antinomianisrn.  Opposition  to  works,  as  the  name  itself  indi- 
cates, was  a  cardinal  dogma,  held  with  unflinching  tenacity  by 
the  ministers  and  the  leading  members  of  the  churches.  This 
error,  so  fatal  in  its  practical  bearings,  was  the  logical  result 
of  those  hyper-Calvinistic  tenets  which  constituted  the  staple 
of  pulpit  ministrations.  Resolving  all  questions  of  religious 
experience  into  the  decrees  of  divine  sovereignty,  believing 
that  the  salvation  of  the  elect  was  'determined  by  an  eternal 
purpose,  irrespective  of  agencies,  our  fathers  taught  that  an 
attempt  to  instruct  an  inquirer,  or  plead  with  an  impenitent4 
person,  would  be  a  presumptuous  interference  with  the  inscru- 
table purposes  of  God.  When  God  wanted  to  convict  or  convert 
a  sinner,  he  knew  where  to  find  him,  and  how  to  do  it,  without 
the  intervention  of  human  effort ;  and  in  his  own  u  good  time  " 
he  would,  in  his  own  way,  bring  his  elect  into  the  fold.  Accord- 
ingly, it  was  held  to  be  wrong  to  exhort  sinners  to  repentance,  to 
exert  any  influence  by  way  of  encouragement  to  troubled  hearts. 
It  was  counted  an  excellent  sign  of  being  led  by  the  Spirit,  if 
a  person  remained  under  silent  conviction  for  years  ;  and  to 
indulge  in  constant  doubts  and  fears  of  being  accepted,  was 
thought  to  be  one  of  the  brightest  evidences  of  personal  elec- 
tion. Parents  studiously  avoided  religious  conversation  with 
their  children ;  family  prayer  was  rarely  observed.  In  many 
instances  the  logic  of  the  creed  made  parents  doubt  the  pro* 


Ik 
ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  39 

priety  of  praying  for  the  conversion  of  their  children,  while  the 
idea  of  teaching  an  unregenerate  child  to  pray  few  himself  was 
deemed  an  approach  to  sacrilege.  The  grand  argument  in  all 
such  cases  was,  —  If  my  child,  or  neighbor,  or  friend  is  one  of 
the  elect,  God  will  regenerate  him  without  human  intervention  ; 
and  if  he  is  not  one  of  the  elect,  no  human  efforts  will  avail. 
These  views  prevailed  throughout  the  States  of  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  and  Maryland; 

As  a  matter  of  course,  in  the  scheme  of  such  a  theology, 
Sunday  schools,  missionary  enterprises,  and  protracted  meetings 
could  find  no  place.  In  our  day  Christians  have  learned  that 
Antinomianism  is  a  caricature  of  the  cardinal  truths  of  the 
gospel.  It  is  not  necessary  to  deny  the  grand  doctrines  that 
are  co-related  to  the  central  truth  of  the  divine  sovereignty,  in 
order  to  justify  the  use  of  means.  Let  us  understand  only  that 
it  is  a  part  of  the  divine  plan,  that  his  purposes  are  to  be 
accomplished  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  his  people,  and  as  a 
blessing  upon  their  efforts,  and  we  enter  at  once  into  the  mind 
of  God,  and  find  our  highest  inspiration  in  the  confidence  that 
"  qur  labor  will  not  be  in  vain,"  because  the  purposes  of  God 
cannot  fail  of  being  accomplished. 

>  It  is  true  there  were  some  noble  exceptions  to  this  general 
condition  of  denominational  sentiment.  There  were  a  few- 
ministers  who  began  to  discern  the  connection  between  "  the 
means  and  end."  These  noble  men  have  nearly  all  passed 
away,  but  their  memories  are  blessed.  They  come  down  as 
precious  legacies,  and  their  works  do  follow  them  in  the  ac- 
cumulating forces  which  are  now  hastening  on  to  usher  in  the 
latter-day  glories  of  the  Lamb.  Elder  Benedict  was  preaching 
in  New  York  city  all  the  Bible  doctrines  practically  and  suc- 
cessfully. His  labors  were  abundant,  and  he  reaped  a  plentiful 
harvest.  Hundreds  were  converted  under  his  ministry,  and 
two  large  churches  grew  directly  out  of  the  results  of  his 
endeavors.  He  labored  to  the  last,  and  fell  in  the  midst  of  the 
harvest  field,  and  went  to  his  reward  with  sweat-drops  of  toil 
un  wiped  from  his  brow. 


f        .    .          -  ••' 

*  -4  •  * 

40  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP    • "^ 

% 

Many  of  the  more  intelligent  ministers  of  the  denomination 
began,  along  from  1820  to  1830,  to  take  an  interest  in  mis- 
sions, Sunday 'schools,  and  temperance  and  anti-slavery  reforms. 
These  latter  movements,  as  might  be  expected,  found  their  bit- 
terest opponents  in  those  who  affected  such  zealous  anxiety  for 
the  undisturbed  decrees  of  God.  They  were  startled  from  their 
lethargy  only  by  their  hostility  to  the  enci'oachments  of  these 
new  measures.  They  became  active,  not  to  save  souls,  and 
elevate  society,  but  to  oppose  those  who  had  set  themselves  to 
promote  "  every  good  word  and  work.  But  as  they  had  no 
conversions,  and  scarcely  any  additions  to  their  churches,  except 
as  they  were  recruited  by  those  who  left  churches  where  the 
leaven  of  Christian  effort  was  beginning  to  work,  they  were 
soon  destined  to  die  out  from  exhaustion.  And,  as  they  exer- 
cised themselves  mainly  in  finding  fault  with  those  who  "  had  a 
mind  to  work  "  for  God,  they  made  me  think  of  a  goose  who 
would  sit  all  summer  on  a  few  round  stones,  hiss  off  any  who 
might  propose  to  supply  her  with  eggs,  and  finally  get  up  with- 
out hatching  a  gosling. 

Now,  I  do  not  think  that  I  am  claiming  too  much  when  I  say, 
that  among  the  agencies  which  God  has  specially  honored  "in 
breaking  up  this  apathetic  state  of  the  churches,  inv  bringing^ 
into  the  ranks  of  the  ministry  men  earnest  in  winning  souls, 
and  into  the  ranks  of  the  laymen  men  zealous  in  supporting  all 
our  benevolent  enterprises,  in  laboring  in  Sunday  schools,  and 
in  working  for  the  conversion  of  sinners,  the  early  efforts  of 
evangelists,  of  men  specially  devoted  to  holding  protracted  meet- 
ings, are  to  be  recognized  as  preeminent. 

Shortly  before  I  started  as  an  evangelist,  the  Lord  had  raised 
up  among  the  Presbyterians  Charles  G.  Finney  and  Jedediali 
Burchard.  And  God,  as  we  all  know,  has  crowned  the  labors 
of  these  devoted  men  with  marvellous  success.  They  went 
forth  weeping ;  but  they  have  already  returned  rejoicing,  bring- 
ing the  sheaves  of  an  abundant  harvest  with  them.  In  addition 
to  the  number  of  individual  souls  that  have  been  converted 
through  their  labors,  who  can  fully  estimate  the  influence  wMch 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  41 

they  have  exerted  in  breaking  up  the  set  forms,  the  stereotyped 
prayers,  which  once  characterized  the  Presbyterian  denomina- 
tion, and  turning  it  out  of  the  old  ruts  in  which  it  had  been 
heretofore  content  to  trudge  along? 

It  was  impossible  that  men  of  this  stamp  could  invade  estab- 
lished usages,  and  assail  cherished  opinions,  without  encounter- 
ing opposition  and  persecution.  Men  who. preach  the  same 
sentiments,  and  adopt  the  same  measures  to-day,  find  them-  * 
selves  borne  along  on  the  current  of  popular  sympathy ;  but 
this  was  not  the  case  then.  Besides,  talk  as  we  may  about  the 
eccentricities  of  some  of  these  earlier  evangelists,  it  required 
men  of  marked  individuality  of  character  and  unwavering  pur- 
pose, in  order  to  attract  public  attention,  and  bear  up  under  the 
fearful  persecutions  which  every  innovation  must  invariably 
encounter. 

Among  Baptists,  at  the  time  when  I  started  out,  there  was  £ 
no  one  man  who  stood  forth  as  the  champion  and  exemplar  of 
revival  measures.  I  felt  that  I  was  entering  upon  a  path  that 
had  not  been  trodden  before  me.  Since  then  and  shortly  after- 
,  God  raised  up  others,  such  as  Jabez  Swan,  A.  C.  Kings- 
wis  Raymond,  men  of  God,  who  have  done  valiant  things 

r  the  truth,  and  who,  amid  much  obloquy,  have  toiled  on,  and 
until  those  who  survive  can  to-day  rejoice  with  me  in  beholding 
that  grand  revolution  in  the  sentiments  of  the  Baptist  denomi- 
nation which  recognizes  the  preeminent  value  of  that  very 
agency  which  we  ventured  to  employ  when  it  cost  us  many 
sacrifices  and  sorrows. 

One  source  of  opposition  to  revival  measures  arose  from  con- 
scientious misgivings  as  to  the  scripturalness  of  *the  system. 
The  hyper-Calvinistic  notions  which  had  been  instilled  into  the 
churches  had  wrought  out  a  wide-spread  misapprehension  of  the 
way  in  which  God  purposed  to  fulfil  his  own  promises.  The 
idea  that  God's  people  could  do  anything  as  a  means  of  pro- 
moting a  revival  was  scouted  as  an  impiety.  The  ministers 
taught  that  the  strength  of  the  church  consisted  in  "  lying 
still ;  "  that,  inasmuch  as  regeneration  was  the  sovereign  work 
5 

-    ..        --. 
* 


42 


'*  *  ^ 

AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 


of  the  Holy  Spirit,  God  would  in  his  own  good  time  effectually 
call  those  whom  he  purposed  to  save,  and  that  the  only  duty  of 
the  church  was  to  wait.  If  a  church  proposed  to  meet,  and 
spend  a  season  in  fasting  and  prayer  for  the  outpouring  of 
God's  Spirit,  it  was  said  that  they  were  interfering  with  the 
divine  prerogative ;  and  the  use  of  any  special  overtures  to 
induce  sinners  to  repent  and  give  their  hearts  to  God,  was 
denounced  as  attempts  at  "  man-made  conversions." 

It  was  not  understood  that  God  also  was  waiting  to  bless 
his  people,  and  waiting,  too,  to  "  be  inquired  of  by  the  house 
of  Israel  to  do  this  thing  for  them.''  It  was  not  understood 
that  the  way  in  which  God  would  have  his  people  wait  upon 
him,  was  as  the  apostles  waited  at  Jerusalem  for  the  descent  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  —  with  prayer  and  supplication.  Christians 
seemed  to  have  forgotten  that  "  faith  cometh  by  hearing,"  and 
that  the  apostles  besought  men  to  "  be  reconciled  to  God,"  even 
day  and  night,  and  "  with  tears."  Thus  the  people  of  God  had 
lost  sight  of  the  obligation  of  every  disciple  to  do  all  he  could 
to  present  the  gospel  to  every  man,  and  satisfied  themselves  with 
offsetting  the  untiring  activity  of  the  devil  and  his  emissaries 
to  compass  the  ruin  of  men,  by  harping  on  the  inscrutable  and 
unchangeable  purposes  of  God. 

Many  thought  me  crazy  when  I  urged  the  members  of  the 
church  to  go  from  house  to  house,  and  compel  sinners  to  come 
in  to  the  services  of  the  sanctuary.  The  first  persons  whom  I 
succeeded  in  starting  out  in  this  work,  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
went  forth  under  the  inspiration  that  this  was  God's  method, 
and  returned  at  night  with  their  faces  beaming  with  light  and 
love,  amaz*ed  at  their  success,  and  wondering  what  they  had 
been  dreaming  all  their  lifetime  before. 

I  remember  an  interesting  incident  in  which  a  devoted  ser- 
vant of  Christ  —  one,  too,  active  and  successful  in  winning  souls 
in  spite  of  his  creed  —  was  affected  at  one  of  my  meetings  in 
the  city  of  New  York  during  the  year  1835.  As  I  was  prepar- 
ing the  way  for  the  inquirers  to  come  forward  to  be  prayed  for, 
brother  Duncan  Dunbar  stepped  up  to  me,  and  whispered  in 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  43 

my  ear,  "  Brother  Knapp,  it  will  not  do  to  call  sinners  to  the 
anxious  seats  in  this  city  '  the  prejudices  of  the  people  will  not 
admit  of  it."  I  replied,  "  I  am  not  going  to  be  crowded  into 
the  gutters  by  the  prejudices  of  the  people  ;  I  am  going  straight 
through,  let  the  consequences  be  what  they  may."  The  invi- 
tation was  then  given  ;  upon  which  some  thirty  souls  came  for- 
ward, weeping  and  begging  for  mercy.  Brother  Dunbar,  seeing 
this  expression,  at  once  arose  and  seconded  the  appeal,  when 
several  others  came  forward. 

Although  the  meetings  which  I  held  were  crowned  with  the 
conversion  of  many  souls,  yet  there  were  not  a  few  good  people 
who  were  afraid  that  these  conversions  were  not  genuine..  It 
was  said  that  the  people  were  excited  into  professing  religion, 
without  understanding  its  meaning  or  feeling  its  power.  For 
my  own  part,  I  never  could  see  why  men  might  properly  be- 
come excited  on  other  subjects,  but  must  invariably  approach  the 
momentous  question  of  salvation  with  all  the  proprieties  of  au 
imperturbable  deliberation.  It  seemed  to  me  that  the  record 
of  the  acts  of  the  apostles  is  a  history  of  excitements,  under 
which  the  world  was  verily  turned  upside  down. 

Others,  again,  were  opposed  to  sudden  conversions.  They 
said  the  seed  must  have  time  to  germinate.  They  forgot  that 
the  word  of  God  "  was  quick  and  powerful,"  and  overlooked 
the  facts  by  which  God  has  illustrated  the  operations  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  I  preferred  to-  take  my  examples  of  God's 
methods  of  converting  men  from  his  own  inspired  account," 
rather  than  to  accept,  as  a  specimen,  the  fossilized  mummies 
which  Antinomianism  had  embalmed.  And  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament records  I  learned  that  three  thousand  persons  were 
"  pricked  in  their  hearts"  under  the  preaching  of  one  sermon, 
and  were  converted  and  baptized  in  one  day ;  that  the  eunuch 
received  the  truth  as  soon  as  it  was  presented  to  him,  and  was 
baptized  at  once  ;  that  Paul  was  stricken  down  in  a  moment, 
and  in  a  moment  gave  his  heart  to  Jesus,  and  after  three  days' 
delay  was  remonstrated  with  for  his  tardiness  in  not  being 
immediately  baptized ;  that  the  jailer  and  his  household  re- 


44  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

pented,  believed,  and  were  baptized  in  one  night.  Believing 
that  God  was  unchangeable  in  the  laws  of  his  grace,  I  did  not 
see  why  similar  manifestations  of  the  power  of  God  would  not 
attend  similar  exercises  of  faith,  prayer,  and  effort  now.  I 
saw  nothing  in  the  Bible  which  led  me  to  believe  that  it  was  a 
part  of  the  plan  of  God  that  in  our  generation  men  were  to  rest 
under  silent  convictions  for  six  months,  or  six  years,  in  order  to 
make  genuine  and  thorough  their  final  conversion  to  Christ. 

It  was  also  very  common,  in  those  days,  to  teach  that  doubts 
and  fears  of  being  converted  were  marked  proofs  of  sound 
piety.  If  a  man  spoke  of  "  peace  in  believing,"  and  was  dis- 
posed to  "  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory,"  he 
was  looked  upon  as  spiritually  proud,  and  giving  premonitions  of  a 
speedy  fall.  All  such  expressions  were  discouraged,  and  it  was 
thought  that  the  grace  of  God  was  specially  magnified  by  doubt- 
ing the  willingness  of  God  to  bestow  it.  As  a  matter  of  course, 
therefore,  young  people,  on  coming  into  the  church,  felt  them- 
selves under  a  restraint,  and  it  was  no  unusual  thing  for  a 
recent  convert  to  find  his  remarks  or  efforts  the  subject  of  cau- 
tionary animadversions  from  some  of  the  brethren  who  were 
reputed  for  their  soundness  in  the  faith.  Alas  !  in  how  many 
instances  has  the  ardor  of  a  young  Christian  been  dampened, 
and  his  entire  character  dwarfed,  and  his  influence  deadened, 
by  the  croaking  of  some  of  these  fearful  Malaprops,  whose  only 
zeal  seemed  to  consist  in  assuring  the  converts  that  "  they  must 
not  expect  to  feel  so  happy  or  so  interested  always."  In  fact, 
the  attitude  of  the  church  was  that  of  distrust  as  to  the  gen- 
uineness of  anybody's  conversion.  It  seemed  to  be  taken  for 
granted  that  every  applicant  at  the  doors  of  the  church  must 
be  either  a  hypocrite  or  the  victim  of  self-delusion ;  and  the 
main  business  of  these  wiseacres,  these  men  who  assumed  to 
steady  the  ark  of  God,  was  to  keep  them  out  until  one's  piety 
could  be  demonstrated  by  its  ability  to  survive  all  their  refusals 
to  encourage  it.  In  this  way  were  the  lambs  of  the  flock  cared 
for,  and  this  was  the  kind  of  nurture  by  which  it  was  proposed 
to  "  feed  the  church  of  God." 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  45 

Another  class  opposed  me  from  feelings  of  jealousy.  As  my 
success  increased,  their  hostility  to  my  work  gathered  strength. 
Their  own  want  of  pulpit  power,  the  absence  of  conversions 
under  their  preaching,  made  them  envious  of  the  blessings  that 
rested  on  the  labors  of  others,  and  they  sought  vent  for  their 
vexation  by  calling  in  question  the  reality  and  permanency  of 
results  in  which  they  could  claim  no  share.  They  feared  that 
a  powerful  presentation  of  the  truth,  and  a  large  increase  of 
members  as  a  consequence,  would  beget  a  distaste  for  their  own 
ministry,  and  they  loved  themselves,  their  ease,  their  pride, 
more  than  the  salvation  of  souls. 

Others  opposed  my  ministry  because  they  disliked  my  peculiar 
methods  of  presenting  the  gospel.  They  thought  the  better  way 
was  to  give  no  offence  to  any  man,  but  to  study  to  please  all. 
The  prejudices,  the  errors,  the  vices  of  men  must  not  be  assailed. 
It  was  better  to  charm  with  smooth  words  and  fair  speeches,  to 
keep  the  more  offensive  truths  of  the  Bible  out  of  sight,  to  say 
but  little  about  total  depravity  and  hell  torments,  and  not  to 
make  too  free  a  use  of  the  name  of  the  devil,  lest  his  Satanic 
majesty  might  be  displeased,  and  get  up  a  persecution. 

I  do  not  pass  judgment  on  the  sincerity  or  piety  of  many  who 
would  have  preferred  to  pursue  a  more  man-pleasing  policy.  I 
can  only  say  that  God  had  cast  me  in  a  different  mould,  and  I 
felt  that  he  had  called  me  to  do  a  work  which  men  of  that 
plastic  type  would  not  be  adapted  to  perform.  Besides,  I  re- 
garded the  tendency  of  the  doctrine  of  expediency  as  dangerous, 
and  subversive  of  the  great  truths  of  the  gospel.  Whenever 
Christianity  shall  become  palatable  to  the  tastes  of  unregenerate 
men,  the  "  offence  of  the  cross  "  will  have  ceased.  The  triumphs 
of  the  cross  are  not  to  be  achieved  by  getting  on  the  right  side 
of  men,  but  by  keeping  on  the  right  side  of  God.  Christianity 
is  not  a  doll,  that  is  to  be  dressed  up  in  fine  clothing,  with  silv.er 
slippers  and  gold  rings,  but  is  a  stern  and  uncompromising 
assailant  of  all  forms  of  worldliness,  and  gaining  the  good  will 
of  men  only  as  it  subdues  them  to  the  power  of  godliness.  The 
gospel  can  never  adapt  itself  to  the  preferences  of  sinful  men. 


46  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

Conquests  for  Christianity,  on  this  principle,  are  practical  sur- 
renders of  its  principles  to  those  it  undertakes  to  oppose.  This 
is  essentially  the  policy  of  Romanism,  which,  in  seeking  to  con- 
vert pagans  to  Christianity,  transferred  the  rites  of  paganism  to 
the  services  of  the  church,  and  thus  converted  Christians  into 
pagans. 

For  my  own  part,  I  felt  that,  if  I  sought  to  please  men,  I 
should  not  be  a  servant  of  Christ.  I  thought  it  was  as  true  to- 
day as  of  old,  that  "  he  who  would  live  godly  in  Christ  Jesus 
muat  suffer  persecution."  I  continually  hBard  a  voice  ringing 
in  my  ears,  u  Woe  unto  you  when  all  men  speak  well  of  you." 
Under  these  convictions,  I  felt  constrained  to  call  things  by  their 
right  names,  to  use  most  simple  language,  the  most  direct  argu- 
ments, and  most  matter-of-fact  illustrations.  I  went  forth, 
therefore,  placing  no  reliance  upon  literary  pretensions,  beau- 
tiful sermons,  fine  meeting-houses,  large  organs,  and  splendid 
choirs,  but  trusting  in  the  willingness  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to 
make  effectual  the  simple,  plain,  and  straightforward  presenta- 
tion to  the  understandings  and  consciences  of  men  of  his  own 
revealed  truths. 

Such  were  some  of  the  difficulties  with  which  I  was  called  to 
contend  in  entering  upon  the  work  of  an  evangelist.  I  was  not 
surprised,  nor  disappointed,  nor  discouraged,  as  they  continued 
to  present  themselves  in  my  path.  My  early  discipline  prepared 
me  to  bear  up  under  trials,  and  had  taught  me  that  it  was  "  bet- 
ter to  trust  in  the  Lord  than  to  put  confidence  in  princes."  I 
had  nothing  to  hope,  and  nothing  to  fear,  from  man.  All 
expectations  or  desires  for  honors  from  men  were  crucified  ;  and 
I  constantly  prayed  that  I  might  not  be  left  to  the  influence 
of  such  considerations.  I  took  counsel  of  no  man,  but  daily 
sought  God  as  the  guide  of  my  ways.  My  labors,  though 
ignored  by  the  religious  press  for  many  years,  resulted  in  the 
conversion  of  more  during  a  given  number  of  years  than  all  the 
conversions  reported  by  our  missionaries  in  the  home  field. 

In  addition  to  the  consolation  of  knowing  that  my  labors  for 
souls  were  not  in  vain,  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  receiving  the 


ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  '47 

cooperation  aad  confidence  of  the  ministers  and  churches  with 
•whom  I  held  meetings,  and,  as  a  general  thing,  they  became 
my  fast  friends.  In  this  way,  as  I  went  over  the  country, 
public  opinion  was  gradually  changed.  I  shall  carry  to  my 
grave  the  remembrance  of  very  many  warm-hearted  brethren, 
who  laid  themselves  on  the  altar  with  me,  and  wept,  and  prayed, 
and  toiled  for  the  conversion  of  the  world.  Many  of  these  are 
now  in  heaven.  Nor  were  those  who  gave  me  their  counte- 
nance men  of  our  own  denomination  only ;  but  among  others 
there  were  not  a  few  who  said,  "It  is  the  work  of  the  Lord." 
Among  these  I  may  make  special  mention  of  the  Episcopal 
bishop  in  Maryland,  Dr.  Taylor  of  Yale  College,  and  Dr.  Nott 
of  Union  College.  Dr.  Nott  was  an  enthusiastic  friend.  His 
whole  moral  nature  was  moved  by  the  power  and  simplicity 
of  the  truth. 

In  the  mean  time,  as  I  continued  to  labor,  other  ministers 
caught  the  spirit  of  evangelism.  Pastors  began  to  preach  with 
more  power,  and  sought  to  do  all  they  could  for  the  salvation 
of  their  people ;  and  God,  who  is  faithful  to  his  promises,  gave 
them  marked  success.  Many  of  them  went  forth  from  their 
own  immediate  fields  to  assist  neighboring  pastors,  and  adopted 
the  measures  which  had  proved  so  successful  with  evangelists. 
Thus  the  work  extended  all  through  the  United  States.  Con- 
verts were  multiplied  by  tens  of  thousands  ;  while  those  churches 
which  did  not  sympathize  with  these  new  measures  died  out, 
and  those  ministers  who  opposed  the  progress  of  evangelical 
effort  are  forgotten,  or  are  remembered  only  as  men  who  mis- 
interpreted the  signs  of  the  times. 

And  at  the  present  day,  I  am  permitted,  as  I  look  over  the 
increased  ranks  of  the  Baptist  ministry,  to  recognize  scores  and 
hundreds  of  honored  and  successful  laborers  in  the  vineyard 
who  were  converted  in  protracted  meetings ;  and  to  count  by 
thousands,  laymen,  now  active,  benevolent,  and  laborious  in 
every  good  word  and  work,  who  were  brought  to  Christ  in 
connection  with  special  efforts  and  revival  measures. 


48  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 


CHAPTER    V. 

ACCOUNTS  OF  PROTRACTED  MEETINGS. 

(1832-4.) 

Union  Meetings.  —  Why  discontinued.  —  Duty  of  Baptists.  —  Blessed 
Meetings.  —  An  Answer  to  Prayer.  —  Departed  Worthies.  —  NORTH 
RUTLAND  :  "  The  Bower  of  Prayer."  —  Deacon  Woodward  and  the 
Young  Men.  —  TURIN  :  Universalism.  —  A  Universalist  Mother.  — 
Threatened  Suit.  —  Mr.  P.  —  CONSTABLEVILLE  :  Barn  and  Pork- 
House.  —  Colonel  M.  —  A  Drunkard's  Wife.  —  A  Vision. 

DURING  the  period  between  the  years  1832  and  1834,  I 
held  meetings  in  all  the  principal  towns  in  the  Counties  of 
Jefferson,  Lewis,  and  Oswego,  and  in  many  towns  in  Cayuga 
County.  Throughout  these  two  years  I  usually  called  in  the 
aid  of  all  evangelical  denominations,  namely,  the  Baptist, 
Methodist,  Presbyterian,  and  Congregational.  All  labored  to- 
gether, and  I  was  content  to  leave  the  division  of  the  spoils 
with  the  pastors  and  churches  after  I  had  gone.  But  I  found 
this  method  fraught  with  serious  evils. 

In  the  first  place,  the  different  churches  were  almost  always 
sure  to  quarrel  about  their  respective  share  of  the  converts. 
The  churches,  in  these  small  country  villages,  were  generally 
more  or  less  feeble ;  and  each  felt  that  its  very  existence 
depended  on  these  accessions.  This  contention  would  stop  the 
revival,  the  wicked  would  triumph,  and  devils  hold  a  jubilee 
in  hell. 

In  the  second  place,  my  conscience  was  not  at  ease.  I  was 
commissioned  to  go  and  "  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  I 
asked  myself,  "  How  can  I  give  a  good  account  of  my  steward- 
ship, if  I  do  not  fully  carry  out  my  commission  ?  " 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  49 

I  loved  all  God's  children  ;  I  delighted  to  labor  with  them. 
Everything  calculated  to  divide  or  interrupt  our  union  was 
painful  to  my  feelings,  and  for  a  long  time  my  mind  was  un- 
settled. I  thought  much  on  the  subject,  and  prayed  for  wisdom 
from  above.  At  length  the  subject  came  up  before  me  in  this 
form :  "  Suppose  I  should  die  to-night,  and  at  the  judgment 
Jesus  should  call  me  to  him  and  say,  '  My  servant,  Jacob,  have 
you  carried  out  your  commission,  preached  my  gospel,  discipled 
and  baptized  ? '  I  should  be  compelled  to  reply,  '  I  have  preached 
thy  blessed  gospel  as  faithfully  as  I  knew  how ;  have  made 
many  disciples ;  sometimes  I  have  baptized,  and  sometimes  I 
have  not.'  '  Why  did  you  sometimes  not  baptize  ? '  I  imagined 
my  Savior  to  ask  ;  and  I  supposed  myself  obliged  to  say,  '  Well, 
Master,  my  Pedo-Baptist  brethren  had  adopted  the  recent 
custom  of  sprinkling,  and  I  could  not  carry  out  thy  commission 
without  giving  offence.'  "  I  concluded  that  it  were  better  for 
me  to  go  to  the  stake,  than  be  under  the  necessity  of  meeting 
my  Lord  and  Savior  with  a  lame  reply  like  this.  What  if  Jesus 
should  answer  me,  "  He  that  loveth  father  and  mother,  husband 
and  wife,  more  than  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me  "  ! 

I  therefore  made  up  my  mind  to  carry  out  my  commission 
regardless  of  all  consequences  ;  nor  do  I  love  my  Pedo-Baptist 
brethren  any  the  less,  nor  do  I  value  Christian  union  any  the 
less.  ^But  I  have  become  convinced  that  the  true  way  in  which 
to  bring  about  Christian  union,  to  incorporate  all  Christians  in 
one  body,  is  to  do  away  with  all  the  errors  which  now  divide 
them  ;  and  when  we  have  one  faith,  then  we  can  have  one 
church,  one  baptism,  and  one  communion.  All  attempts  to 
bring  antagonistic  elements  together  have  been,  and  must  ever 
be,  abortive.  "  How  can  two  walk  together,  except  they  be 
agreed  ?  "  In  the  meantime  we  should  harbor  no  sectarian  feel- 
ings, no  prejudice  against  those  of  other  names,  see  to  it  that 
no  selfishness  mingles  in  our  devotions,  appreciate  all  that  is 
good  in  those  who  differ  from  us,  and,  as  far  as  we  can,  work 
together  for  the  conversion  of  the  world. 

And  I  think  that  if  all  Baptists  would  carry  out  the  commis- 


50  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

eion  in  the  right  spirit,  and  turn  not  to  the  right  or  to  the  IcfV 
in  all  revivals,  and  on  all  occasions ;  baptize  converts  as  fast  as 
they  believe  ;  never  cringe,  never  exult,  and  be  a  little  more 
patient,  all  the  children  of  God  would  soon  be  led  to  see  their 
errors ;  abandon  infant  baptism,  and  adopt  immersion ;  then 
we  are  all  substantially  one.  Other  minor  differences  might 
exist  for  a  while,  but  in  process  of  time  they  would  vanish 
away,  and  the  great  end,  for  which  so  many  pious  hearts  are 
yearning  and  praying,  would  be  reached. 

Although  during  this  period  I  baptized  comparatively  few  of 
those  who  were  converted  under  my  preaching,  yet  I  baptized 
over  eight  hundred ;  being  about  the  same  number  as  was  re- 
ported to  have  been  baptized  by  all  the  Baptist  missionaries  of 
the  home  field  within  the  same  length  of  time.  Notwithstand- 
ing this  success,  my  work  was  looked  upon  with  suspicion,  and 
scarcely  alluded  to  in  the  public  prints.  I  was  forty  years 
ahead  of  the  times. 

I  have  never  witnessed,  before  nor  since,  such  exhibitions  of 
divine  power,  such  earnest  holding  on  in  prayer.  Not  unfre- 
quently  the  people  of  God  would  continue  till  the  break  of  day 
in  supplication  for  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  or  the  conversion 
of  particular  persons.  There  were  many  remarkable  instances 
of  answers  to  prayer.  The  ministers,  and  many  of  the  leading 
members,  seemed  to  be  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  God ;  and  in 
many  instances,  when  brethren  knelt  around  a  convicted  sin- 
ner, they  would  not  rise  until  his  soul  had  been  set  at  liberty, 
and  was  rejoicing  "  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God." 

I  remember  one  occasion  in  which  a  company  of  sisters  re- 
paired to  a  grove  to  pray.  Three  hardened  young  men  followed 
them  with  the  intention  of  disturbing  their  devotions ;  but  as 
they  drew  near  to  the  spot,  the  one  in  advance  fell  to  the 
ground,  then  the  next,  and  then  the  next.  A  company  of 
brethren,  apprehending  trouble,  had  followed  them,  and  came 
upon  them  as  they  lay  prostrate  and  helpless.  They  lifted  them 
up,  and  took  them  back  to  the  anxious  meeting,  where  they 
continued  in  great  agony  of  soul,  until  they  were  converted  to 


ELDER   JACOB   KXAPP.  51 

God.  One  of  them  tried  hard  to  resist  the  strivings  of  the 
Spirit,  but  at  length,  crying  out,  "  O,  my  knees  !  must  you  bow 
for  the  first  time?  "  knelt  in  prayer,  and  made  a  complete  sur- 
render to  the  sceptre  of  Christ.  I  ought  to  have  mentioned, 
when  these  sisters  saw  these  young  men  coming,  they  cried"  out 
mightily  to  God  that  he  would  smite  them  to  the  earth  with  his 
convicting  power.  Their  prayers  were  answered.  This  oc- 
currence took  place  in  Orleans,  Jefferson  County,  N.  Y.,  in  1832. 

At  the  close  of  this  meeting  I  baptized  sixty  persons  in  thirty 
minutes. 

By  this  time  (1867),  all  the  ministers,  and  many  of  the 
brethren,  who  labored  with  me  in  those  days,  are  dead.  Among 
them  I  may  mention  Elders  Little,  Warner,  Clarke,  Free- 
man, Cooke,  Waters,  Wedge,  and  Horr.  Some  of  them  prayed 
and  toiled  themselves  to  death.  They  died  on  the  field  of  bat- 
tle, with  their  armor  on.  How  strange  it  seems  that  I  am 
permitted  to  outlive  them  all,  when  I  was  expecting  to  be 
among  the  first  to  cross  over  Jordan,  as  I  did  more  of  the 
preaching,  and  performed  the  hardest  part  of  the  labor ! 

NORTH  RUTLAND. 

Strictly  speaking,  an  account  of  the  meeting  held  in  North 
Rutland,  Jefferson  County,  does  not  belong  to  a  summary  of  my 
labors  as  a  formal  Evangelist.  "  A  meeting  of  days  "  was  held, 
in  1832,  with  the  Baptist  church  in  this  place,  then  under  the 
pastoral  care  of  Elder  Little.  Several  neighboring  ministers 
had  been  invited  to  attend,  and  preach  by  turns.  I  was  among 
the  number. 

The  spirit  of  the  meeting  was  very  precious  ;  and  I,  especial- 
ly, have  reason  to  remember  it,  because  the  impressions  made 
on  my  mind  while  here,  went  very  far  towards  bringing  me  to 
a  decision  to  devote  myself  henceforth  to  the  work  of  an  Evan- 
gelist. At  that  time,  I  was  in  a  great  conflict  between  inclina- 
tion and  conviction.  I  was  feeling  that  God  was  calling  me  to 
go  forth  into  the  field,  }  ut  the  sacrifices  appeared  too  great.  I 


52  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

could  not  bring  myself  to  consent  to  leave  the  endearments  of 
home  and  depend  for  support  on  the  precarious  contributions  of 
the  churches  with  which  I  might  be  called  to  labor. 

While  being  agitated  with  these  reflections,  I  went  to  one  of 
these  meetings,  and  heard,  for  the  first  time,  the  brethren  and 
sisters  sing  the  hymn  called  "  The  Bower  of  Prayer."  As  I 
listened  to  the  sweet  fulness  of  this  hymn,  the  tears  fell  thick 
and  fast  down  my  cheeks.  I  requested  them  to  sing  it  a  second 
time,  and  my  tears  continued  to  flow.  One  verse  in  particular 
seemed  so  appropriate  to  my  case,  and  awakened  so  many  recol- 
lections of  my  struggles,  that  I  was  completely  melted  into  ten- 
derness, and  at  the  same  time  was  exalted  into  the  ecstasy  of  a 
precious  and  entire  acquiescence  in  the  will  of  God. 

"  To  leave  my  dear  friends,  and  with  neighbors  to  part. 
And  go  from  my  home,  it  affects  not  my  heart 
Like  the  thought  of  absenting  myself  for  a  day 
From  that  blest  retreat  where  I've  chosen  to  pray." 

At  the  end  of  the  first  week  the  pastors  returned  to  their 
homes  ;  and  as  yet  there  had  been  no  special  work  among  the 
unconverted.  The  brethren  of  the  church  were  unwillin°-  to 

O 

have  the  meetings  close  without  more  marked  results,  and  they 
continued  to  "  wait  on  the  Lord."  In  the  course  of  the  week 
following  I  returned  to  Rutland,  and  found  a  work  of  grace  in 
the  church  and  community  of  marvellous  power. 

During  this  meeting  one  incident  occurred,  so  remarkable, 
that  I  would  scarcely  venture  to  relate  it  if  I  did  not  know  it 
to  be  true.  Deacon  Spencer  Woodward,  of  Bellville,  a  man 
of  strong  faith,  and  "  full  of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  fell  in  with  a 
company  of  hardened  scoffers,  as  they  were  standing  on  the 
village  "  green,"  mocking  the  saints  of  the  Most  High.  One 
of  them  had  a  cane,  the  head  of  which  consisted  of  a  piece  of 
deer's  horn :  and  as  the  deacon  was  passing,  in  order  to  cast 
derision  on  the  services  of  religion,  he  was  asking  his  young 
companions,  to  whom  he  was  extending  his  cane,  to  come  for- 
ward and  lay  hold  on  "  the  horns  of  the  altar." 

Father  Woodward  stopped,  and  turning  to  them,  remarked, 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  53 

"  Young  men,  if  you  knew  what  you  were  about,  I  should  think 
your  damnation  sealed,  and  should  not  think  it  worth  while  to 
waste  my  breath  on  your  account ;  but  you  are  ignorant  of  the 
things  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  On  this  evening  you  will  be 
made  to  see  the  power  of  the  Almighty." 

He  induced  them  to  enter  the  meeting-house,  though  it  was 
some  time  before  sundown  and  there  was  no  service  as  yet,  and, 
leading  them  into  a  pew,  and  shutting  the  door  (it  was  an  old- 
fashioned  pew  with  a  straight  back  and  a  high  door),  told  them 
that  nobody  would  disturb  them.  "  Now,"  said  he,  "  brace  your- 
selves, for  God  is  about  to  come  down  in  great  power."  Pie  then 
knelt  in  prayer  in  the  aisle  at  the  pew  door.  He  got  hold  truly 
of  "  the  horns  of  the  altar,"  and  the  "  Holy  One  came  down  from 
Teram."  The  young  men  trembled  like  Belshazzar  when  he 
saw  the  hand  writing  on  the  wall.  Some  of  them  got  down  on 
the  floor,  and  their  knees  knocked  against  each  other  and  against 
the  sides  of  the  pew.  Soon  one  of  them  sank  down  to  the  floor 
utterly  helpless.  One  of  his  companions  reached  over  and 
whispered  to  father  Woodward,  "  Uncle  Spencer,  Jim  is  a  dy- 
ing." "  Get  some  water,"  said  father  W.,  "  and  fetch  him  to  ; 
don't  let  him  die."  One  of  them  ran  for  water,  but  his  hands 
trembled  so  that  he  spilt  half  of  it  out  of  the  pail  before  he 
reached  the  prostrate  man.  The  deacon  told  them  to  lift  him 
up,  adding,  "  I  told  you  that  God  was  coming  down  ;  now  prepare 
to  meet  him."  Two  of  the  stoutest  of  the  young  men  took  hold 
of  him,  but  they  could  not  lift  him  ;  their  strength  failed  them. 
The  deacon  raised  the  young  man  up,  his  consciousness  soon 
returned,  and  very  shortly  afterwards  he  was  converted. 

Some  of  the  others,  also,  were  led  by  this  event  to  seek  and 
find  salvation.  One  of  them,  however,  by  the  name  of  Coburn, 
was  smitten  down  during  the  meeting  that  evening,  and  carried 
to  Elder  Little's  house,  where  he  remained  till  midnight,  insen- 
sible. When  he  had  sufficiently  recovered  his  strength,  he  went 
home,  swearing  that  he  would  not  submit  to  God,  even  though 
he  was  sent  to  "hell"  before  morning.  About  a  year  after  this 
he  was  found  among  the  scoffers,  during  a  meeting  of  days  that 


54  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

was  being  held  iu  the  same  town.  Again  he  was  stricken  to 
the  floor  by  the  hand  of  God,  while  sitting  in  a  prayer-meeting, 
and  again  he  resisted  the  Spirit.  Some  time  in  the  course  of 
the  following  year  I  received  information  that  this  hardened 
young  man  was  smitten  down  the  third  time,  and  in  this 
instance  was  smitten  by  the  hand  of  death.  He  was  "  driven 
away  in  his  wickedness  "  —  a  fearful  example  of  the  possibility 
and  danger  of  striving  against  God. 

TURIN. 

In  the  course  of  these  two  years,  1832-1834, 1  was  called,  in 
the  providence  of  God,  to  attend  a  meeting  of  days  in  Turin, 
Lewis  County,  N.  Y.  At  that  time  there  was  no  church  of 
any  denomination  in  the  village.  The  town  was  called  "  Satan's 
seat."  The  people  had  built  one  meeting-house,  which  was  free 
for  anybody  to  preach  in,  whether  they  preached  truth  or  error. 

A  number  of  Christian  people  of  different  names  combined 
together  to  get  up  a  meeting,  and  then  extended  to  me  an  invi- 
tation to  preach.  When  I  arrived  I  found  a  number  of  minis- 
ters of  the  gospel  of  different  names  there,  praying  together, 
and  ready  to  lend  a  helping  hand  for  the  conversion  of  the  place. 
Most  of  the  men  of  business  were  infidel  or  Uuiversalist  in  sen- 
timent. I  commenced  preaching  day  and  night,  and  opened 
prayer-meetings  in  different  places.  The  people  came  in.  The 
Spirit  began  to  manifest  his  power,  and  sinners  were  converted. 

But  opposition  soon  began  to  arise  and  develop  itself  more 
and  more.  When  speaking  on  the  tendency  or  effects  of  Uni- 
versalism  one  evening,  I  related  the  following  fact  which  took 
place  in  that  village  :  — 

A  boy,  whose  mother  was  a  Universalist,  stepped  into  a  store 
one  day,  in  the  absence  of  the  merchant,  and  took  from  the 
drawer  all  the  money  it  contained.  As  he  was  going  out  at  the 
front  door,  the  merchant  was  coming  in  at  the  back  door,  and 
recognized  him.  The  merchant,  knowing  him  to  be  a  bad  boy, 
followed  and  caught  him,  and  accused  him  of  having  stolen 
money  from  his  drawer.  The  boy  denied  the  charge,  calling 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  55 

on  God  to  witness  his  innocence ;  but  the  money  was  found  in 
his  pocket.  The  merchant  asked  him  what  he  thought  would 
become  of  him  if  he  continued  to  steal,  and  lie,  and  call  on  the 
name  of  God.  The  boy  looked  him  impudently  in  the  face,  and 
replied,  "  I  don't  care  if  I  do  lie  and  steal ;  there  is  no  hell ; 
mother  tells  me  so."  The  Universalists  did  not  fancy  such  a 
naked,  unvarnished  application  of  the  tendency  of  their  doctrines. 
So  they  stirred  up  the  wicked,  set  the  town  in  an  uproar,  and 
got  out  a  summons  for  me,  with  the  intention  of  breaking  up  the 
meeting  and  of  being  revenged  on  •  me.  Squire  P.  agreed  to 
carry  on  the  suit  free  of  charge ;  others  subscribed  five  dollars 
each  to  meet  expenses,  and  it  was  reported  through  the  town 
that  "  Kuapp  had  lied  ;  had  slandered  a  poor  widow,  and  was 
going  to  be  prosecuted." 

I  called  a  council  of  war,  and  after  praying  over  it  and  con- 
sulting together,  we  unanimously  resolved  to  go  on,  regardless 
of  what  any  one  might  say  or  do,  and  trust  events  in  the  hands 
of  God.  I  was  then  young,  and  had  had  but  little  experience  in 
such  matters.  I  entered  the  pulpit,  told  the  brethren  that  pos- 
sibly the  sheriff  might  call  for  me  before  I  had  finished  my  dis- 
course, and  that  if  he  did  I  should  go  to  jail,  and  I  wished  them 
to  go  on  with  the  meeting ;  and  that,  if  I  could  get  bail  on  the 
limits,  I  would  open  a  protracted  meeting  there,  and  we  would 
kindle  a  fire  on  both  sides  of  the  devil,  and  burn  him  out. 
These  remarks  aroused  the  brethren,  and  seemed  to  carry  them 
back  to  the  days  of  the  apostles,  and  they  cried  unto  God 
mightily. 

But  no  sheriff"  appeared.  On  that  afternoon,  however,  I 
received  a  note  from  my  persecutors,  stating  that  if  I  would 
make  a  handsome  apology  they  would  pass  the  matter  over  ;  if 
not,  that  the  suit  should  go  on  ;  and  that  they  would  all  come 
out  that  evening  to  the  meeting  in  order  to  hear  my  apology. 
That  night  the  house  was  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity.  All 
were  excited  to  the  highest  pitch  ;  some  were  praying  and  look- 
ing beyond  all  creature  aid ;  some  were  cursing,  and  some  were 
smitten  in  their  hearts.  I  think  my  text  for  that  evening  was, 


56  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

*'  And  thou  mourn  at  the  last,  when  thy  flesh  and  thy  body  are 
consumed,  and  say,  How  have  I  hated  instruction,  and  my  heart 
despised  reproof"  (Prov.  v.  11,  12)  ;  and  if  I  ever  felt  that  I 
stood  between  the  living  and  the  dead,  I  felt  so  that  night. 
The  solemnities  of  the  eternal  world  gathered  around  us,  and 
settled  on  the  whole  congregation ;  some  sank  .down  in  their 
seats,  helpless,  before  I  had  finished  my  sermon.  Not  a  dog 
moved  his  tongue.  We  spent  a  season  in  prayer,  and  several 
were  converted  on  the  spot ;  others  were  unable  to  get  home 
•without  assistance.  Colonel  F.,  a  dry  goods  merchant,  could  not 
stand  on  his  feet ;  several  of  the  brethren  helped  him  to  his 
house,  and  staid  with  him  aH  night.  He  was  brought  into  light 
and  liberty  before  morning.  Strange  to  say,  his  wife  contin- 
ued hardened,  and  was  heard  to  say,  repeatedly,  that  she  would 
rather  that  her  husband  lose  all  his  property  than  to  have  lived 
to  become  a  Christian.  If  I  am  not  mistaken,  she  was,  not- 
withstanding, brought  to  give  her  heart  to  Christ  some  time 
afterwards. 

From  that  hour  the  work  rolled  on  until  the  most  of  the  vil- 
lage was  converted  to  God.  The  lawyer  who  offered  to  carry 
on  the  suit  was  among  the  converts.  A  Dr.  D.  and  wife 
were  converted.  A  wealthy  man  by  the  name  of  P.,  a  con- 
firmed Universalist,  who  had  subscribed  five  dollars  towards 
the  suit,  and  who  laid  his  hand  on  the  Bible,  and  swore  that  he 
would  cowhide  any  man  who  should  darken  his  door  to  talk 
with  him  or  his  family  on  the  subject  of  religion,  was  made  a 
signal  trophy  of  redeeming  grace.  His  family  likewise  shared 
in  the  blessing.  He  stated  before  a  large  congregation,  that 
when  he  was  a  tlniversalist  he  was  angry  with  God  because  he 
would  not  let  him  live  in  this  world  forever.  He  said  he  knew 
God  might  if  he  would,  but  now  he  could  rejoice  in  the  hope 
of  a  better  life  beyond  the  grave ;  and  he  added,  "  Should  it 
please  God  to  call  me  from  this  stand,  I  could  go  rejoicing, 
without  even  returning  to  take  leave  of  my  dear  wife  and 
children." 

The  victory  of  the  people  of  God  in  this  place  was  complete. 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  57 

The  devil  was  vanquished.  Error  was  driven  like  chaff  before 
a  mighty  wind ;  and  I  learned,  from  experience,  that  it  was 
"  better  to  trust  in  the  Lord  than  to  put  confidence  in  princes." 

CONST  ABLE  VILLE . 

Shortly  after  this  meeting,  I  held  another  in  Constableville, 
in  the  same  county.  This  is  a  beautiful  village,  nestling  among 
the  mountains,  in  a  fertile  valley.  The  only  house  of  worship 
in  this  place,  at  that  time,  was  an  Episcopal  church ;  but  into 
this,  of  course,  I  could  gain  no  admittance.  But  the  Christian 
friends  in  the  community  turned  out,  and  fitted  up  a  large, 
newly-built  barn,  and  built  a  bower  on  each  side,  so  that  two 
thousand  people  could  be  accommodated.  Here  we  conducted 
an  anxiods-meeting,  separate  from  the  congregation  which  was 
listening  to  the  preaching.  As  fast  as  one  was  brought  under 
the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  could  be  induced  to  go, 
he  was  led  to  the  inquiry-meeting.  The  ungodly  called  it  "  the 
finishing-off-room." 

"While  we  were  in  waiit  of  such  a  room,  Colonel  Miller,  a 
wealthy  gentleman,  offered  the  use  of  his  old  store,  which  he 
was  then  occupying  for  the  purpose  of  packing  pork.  It  was 
thankfully  accepted ;  and  he  politely  sent  his  hired  man  to 
assist  in  cleaning  and  fitting  it  up.  Though  a  perfect  gentle- 
man, he  would  sometimes  indulge  in  a  sly  joke  with  his  friends, 
in  a  pleasant  way,  about  the  ministers  taking  the  anxious  to  his 
"  pork-shop  "  in  order  to  get  them  converted.  But  it  pleased 
God  to  touch  his  heart,  and  that  of  his  noble  wife.  They  were 
brought  into  great  distress.  They  continued  to  attend  the  meet- 
ings at  the  barn  ;  came  forward,  and  rose,  and  asked  for  prayers. 
I,  with  one  or  two  others,  went  to  their  house,  and  spent  the 
whole  night  with  them  in  reading  the  Scriptures  and  prayer ; 
but  no  relief  could  they  obtain.  Others  were  being  converted, 
and  they  began  to  deem  themselves  forsaken  of  God. 

One  afternoon,  as  I  was  about  to  preach,  he  arose,  and 
begged  prayers  for  himself  and  wife,  and  stated  that  they  were 
6 


58  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

nearly  in  despair.  The  suggestion  was  made,  that  perhaps  he 
had  set  up  his  will  against  going  to  the  pork-room  ;  if  so,  that 
room  lay  between  him  and  the  kingdom  of  God.  He  saw  the 
force  of  the  remark,  and  turning  to  his  wife,  said,  "If  you  are 
willing  to  go  down  to  the  pork-room,  I  will  go  with  you.  It  is 
a  bitter  pill,  but  we  may  as  well  die  in  one  way  as  another  ;  we 
cannot  live  so."  She  took  him  by  the  arm,  and  they  walked 
down  to  the  pork-room,  bowed  in  prayer,  and  both,  there  and 
then,  found  peace,  and  returned  to  their  home  rejoicing.  "We 
had  in  this  meeting  a  blessed  time.  Very  many  souls  were  con- 
verted ;  I  cannot  say  how  many. 

I  remember  the  case  of  a  poor  woman,  the  daughter  of  a  silk- 
merchant  in  India,  who  had  married  against  her  parents'  wishes. 
Her  husband  had  become  a  drunkard,  and  removed  to  this 
country.  Here  he  became  a  sot,  neglected  his  family,  spent  all 
his  earnings  in  strong  drink,  and  left  his  \tffe  and  children  to 
shift  for  themselves.  She  came  six  miles  to  -attend  the  meet- 
ing, with  a  babe  in  her  arms,  leaving  the  other  children  at  home 
with  only  potatoes  and  salt  to  eat.  She  felt  that  all  of  her  pros- 
pects for  this  life  were  blighted,  and  that  there  was  the  more 
reason  why  she  should  have  a  good  hope  for  the  next.  She 
soon  found  Jesus  precious  to  her  soul,  and  went  home  with  a 
light  heart,  rejoicing  in  the  love  of  God. 

Another  circumstance  occurred  in  this  meeting,  which  I  will 
relate,  leaving  the  reader  to  make  his  own  comments.  There 
was,  in  an  obscure  part  of  the  town,  a  pious  woman  in  lowly 
circumstances,  who  had  been  longing  for  the  consolation  of 
Israel,  and  praying  for  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit.  In  the 
visions  of  the  night,  she  saw  two  men  come  into  the  town,  and 
with  long  poles  stir  up  the  pond,  which  lay  on  the  outskirts  of 
the  place,  until  the  water  became  quite  muddy ;  that  then  a 
wind  arose,  and  swept,  with  mighty  power,  over  it,  driving  off 
all  the  disturbed  sediment  which  had  been  brought  to  the  sur- 
face ;  then  the  face  of  the  water  became  pure  and  calm.  When, 
this  meeting  commenced,  she  saw  two  men  whom  she  distinctly 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  69 

recognized  as  those  whom  she  had  beheld  in  her  dream.  And 
when  she  perceived  that  they  were  engaging  in  the  work  of  the 
Lord,  she  interpreted  her  vision  as  a  prediction  of  a  visitation 
from  God,  which  would  stir  up  the  depths  of  wickedness  in  the 
place,  and  purify  and  bless  it  with  the  winds  of  his  gracious  and 
resistless  love. 


60  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 


CHAPTER   VI. 

ACCOUNTS  OF  PROTRACTED  MEETINGS. 
(1832-4.) 

RUTLAND  HILL  :  Holding  on.  —  Great  Results.  —  An  alarmed  Pro- 
fessor. —  A  good  Conscience.  —  "  Old  Fogies."  —  A  new  Church.  — 
LORAINE  :  Suspension  of  Business.  —  Three  Meeting-Houses.  —  A 
Mother's  Command.  —  HANNIBAL  CENTRE  :  A  cold  Beginning.  — 
Universalist  Reporters.  —  A  drunken  Apostate.  —  OSWEGO  :  Peter  S. 
Smith.  —  Power  of  Earnestness.  —  A  real  Religion.  —  Restitution. 

RUTLAND  HILL. 

ABOUT  this  time  I  attended  a  meeting  at  Rutland  Hill,  Jeffer- 
son County,  preaching  in  the  Congregational  church.  I 
labored  ten  days, 'and  was  blessed  with  only  five  converts.  The 
place  was  overrun  with  infidelity  and  Universalism.  In  the  even- 
ings all  turned  out  and  filled  the  house.  Many  were  somewhat 
affected,  but  they  did  not  break  down.  In  those  days,  ten  days 
were  thought  to  be  a  long  time  in  which  to  protract  religious 
services.  Three  days'  meetings  were  considered  all  that  could 
be  profitably  sustained. 

During  these  ten  days  we  had  all  worked  very  hard,  and  were 
greatly  worn  down.  We  had  not  husbanded  our  strength.  I 
had  preached  three  times  every  day ;  and  the  brethren  prayed 
as  long  and  as  loud  as  they  could,  and  some  half  dozen  of  them 
had  kept  it  up  day  and  night.  We  were  all  either  hoarse  or 
suffering  from  sore  throats. 

We  took  counsel  of  ourselves  and  of  God,  as  to  what  course 
to  pursue.  We  remembered  the  promise,  "  In  due  time  we 
shall  reap  if  we  faint  not."  So  we  concluded  to  take  God  at 
his  word,  and  "  go  forward."  I  went  to  the  pulpit,  and  the 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  61 

helpers  went  to  the  anxious-room.  About  twenty  inquirers 
were  present.  They  induced  them  all  to  kneel  down  ;  one  of 
the  inquirers  summoned  courage  to  open  his  mouth  in  prayer. 
He  was  at  once  set  at  liberty,  and  broke  forth  into  earnest 
prayer  for  the  salvation  of  others  ;  these,  in  turn,  went  to  pray- 
ing for  themselves,  and  as  "  God  turned  their  captivity,"  they, 
too,  prayed  for  their  friends,  until  the  whole  twenty  were  brought 
to  rejoice  in  the  Savior. 

After  I  had  concluded  the  preaching  service,  many  of  the 
unconverted,  attracted  by  the  voice  of  prayer,  went  into  the 
anxious-room.  Several  of  them  fell  on  their  knees,  and  cried 
aloud  for  mercy.  The  converts  began  to  plead  with  the  anxious 
until  until  all  in  the  room  were  led  to  surrender  their  hearts  to 
Christ.  The  brethren  could  only  "  stand  still  and  see  the  salva- 
tion of  God."  The  good  work  went  on  with  increasing  power, 
much  as  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  Infidelity  turned  pale,  and 
Universalism  gave  up  the  ghost.  It  was  a  time  of  deep  heart- 
searching  among  Christians. 

One  lady,  a  member  in  good  standing  in  the  Congregational 
church,  came  to  me,  and  said  she  thought  she  was  not  a  Chris- 
tian, and  wanted  to  know  what  she  should  "  do  to  be  saved." 
I  told  her  to  go  to  God  and  cry  for  help.  She  went  to  her 
chamber,  in  the  same  house  in  which  I  was  boarding,  and,  fall- 
ing on  her  knees,  continued  in  prayer  for  the  space  of  two 
hours,  when  a  sister  came  to  me,  and  expressed  her  fears  that 
the  lady  was  dying,  and  asked  me  to  go  up  to  her  room,  and  see 
what  could  be  done.  I  found  her  still  in  a  pleading  posture, 
agony  depicted  on  her  face,  and  her  eyes  turned  towards  heaven. 
She  could  scarcely  speak  above  a  whisper.  At  first  I  was 
alarmed,  fearing  that  she  might  die,  and  that  her  death  would 
be  attributed  to  me.  I  was  on  the  point  of  requesting  her  to 
cease  her  supplications  ;  but  this  text  broke  upon  my  ears  as  in 
peals  of  thunder,  "  The  bruised  reed  he  will  not  break,  and  the 
smoking  flax  he  will  not  quench,  till  he  send  forth  judgment 
unto  victory." 

I  then  said,  "  God  will  not  break  the  bruised  reed,  and  God 


62  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

forbid  that  I  should  quench  the  smoking  flax ;  let  judgment 
come  forth  unto  victory."  In  a  few  moments  her  countenance 
changed,  a  heavenly  smile  came  over  her  whole  face,  and  she 
began  to  whisper,  "  Blessed  Savior  !  sweet  Jesus  !  all  is  well ! 
all  is  well !  "  From  that  day,  to  the  last  of  my  knowledge  of 
her,  she  testified  her  conviction  that  never  till  then  had  she  seen 
the  preciousness  of  Christ  as  her  atoning  Savior. 

Soon  afterwards,  while  standing  by  the  water  where  I  was 
baptizing,  she  began  to  tremble  and  weep,  and  turning  to  a 
sister,  said,  *'  This  ordinance  never  appeared  so  beautiful  to  me 
as  now.  O  that  I  could  be  buried  with  Christ  in  baptism  ! " 
Being  informed  of  her  remark,  I  replied,  that  "  her  wish  can  be 
gratified  now,  if  she  desires ;  "  and  one  of  the  sisters  putting 
on  a  robe  that  had  been  already  used,  I  led  her  down  into  the 
water,  and  she  was  baptized  straightway,  and  she  went  on  her 
"  way  rejoicing." 

The  Congregational  brethren  in  this  place  were  "  old  fogies." 
They  would  invite  neither  Finney  nor  Burchard  to  labor  with 
them  :  nor  did  they  get  reconverted  during  this  meeting.  They 
did  not  believe  in  young  converts  speaking  or  praying,  for  fear 
they  might  become  proud.  They  thought  the  more  doubts  a 
person  cherished,  the  better  evidence  he  gave  of  being  a  Chris- 
tian. I  left  all  the  converts  to  go  where  they  pleased.  But 
they  had  no  encouragement  to  work  in  this  church.  The  "  old 
fogies  "  went  poking  along  like  an  old  lazy  yoke  of  oxen,  keep- 
ing a  little  ahead  of  the  converts,  and  hooking  them  back  lest 
they  should  go  too  fast. 

Finally,  most  of  the  converts  went  down  to  South  Rutland 
(called  Tylerville),  and  commenced  a  meeting  by  themselves. 
At  their  request,  I  went  to  their  help,  and  began  to  blow  the 
gospel  trumpet.  I  found  an  old  Baptist  church  there,  with 
scarcely  "  a  name  to  live."  We  got  the  old  brands  together, 
and  besought  God  to  kindle  them  once  more  with  the  fire  of 
his  Spirit.  I  commenced  baptizing  the  converts  (about  one 
hundred),  and  soon  went  to  another  field.  As  I  was  leaving 
them,  I  urged  them  to  continue  the  work.  The  revival  kept  on 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  Od 

for  nearly  six  mouths,  and  a  great  number  professed  faith  in 
Christ. 

There  was  a  physician  in  the  place,  who  stood  out  against  all 
the  means  of  grace,  and  became  so  uneasy  and  unhappy,  that 
he  sold  out  his  property,  at  a  great  sacrifice,  and  went  to  Cana- 
da. He  said  that  "  he  could  not  go  to  his  barn,  but  some  one 
Avas  praying  in  the  hay-mow ;  he  could  not  go  to  the  woods, 
but  some  one  was  praying  behind  every  brush-heap  ;  that  the 
women  pestered  his  life  out  of  him,  tormenting  him  Avith  their 
religion,  so  that  he  would  rather  live  in  purgatory."  Well  may 
Ave  ask,  "How  could  the  wicked  be  happy  in  heaven?" 
"  Verily,  ye  must  be  born  again." 

LORAINE. 

In  the  autumn  of  1833,  I  was  invited  to  labor  in  Loraine, 
Jefferson  County,  N.  Y.  On  my  arrival,  I  called  together  the 
three  churches  of  the  place,  namely,  Baptist,  Presbyterian,  and 
Methodist,  and  told  them  that,  in  view  of  other  pressing  calls,  I 
could  not  remain  in  the  place  long,  and  would  not  remain  at 
all,  unless  they  would  agree  to  lay  all  their  business  aside,  and 
attend  day  and  night,  and  work  for  God  as  they  would  work  for 
themselves  in  harvest  time.  The  response  to  my  appeal  was 
quite  cordial  and  unanimous.  "  The  people  had  a  mind  to 
Avork."  They  suspended  all  business,  and  waited  on  the  Lord 
in  his  courts.  We  had  meetings  three  times  a  day  —  morning, 
noon,  and  night.  On  some  occasions  we  continued  all  night, 
the  lamps  not  being  put  out  till  daylight.  While  some  left  for 
a  time,  others  came  in,  and  in  this  way  a  steady  stream  of 
prayer  was  kept  up  all  night  long. 

Farmers  took  their  teams  through  their  respective  neighbor- 
hoods, and  brought  all  to  meeting  who  wished  to  come.  Days 
of  fasting  and  prayer  were  observed,  and  great  searching  of 
heart  Avas  instituted.  Some  gave  up  their  former  hopes,  and 
sought  Christ  aneAV.  When  one  meeting-house  was  filled, 
another  was  opened,  until  all  three  were  thronged  Avith  eager 
congregations.  In  many  instances,  the  saints  resorted  to  the 


64  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

groves,  and  to  private  houses,  to  pray,  in  order  that  they  might 
make  room  for  sinners,  who  came  "  like  doves  to  their  windows" 
to  hear  the  preached  word.  One  meeting-house  would  be  filled 
with  the  unconverted  to  hear  preaching  ?  another  would  be 
crowded  with  praying  saints ;  and  a  third  would  be  thronged 
with  inquirers,  for  whose  benefit  an  inquiry-meeting  was  con- 
ducted every  day  by  Deacon  Tenman,  of  the  Congregational 
church,  and  brother  Horr,  a  licentiate.  Both  these  brethren 
accompanied  me  for  several  years  after  this,  praying  and  con- 
ducting meetings  for  inquiry.  These  men  were  filled  with 
faith  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  were  "  helpers "  in  the  Bible 
sense  of  the  word.  It  was  difficult  to  tell  in  which  of  these 
meetings  there  was  the  greatest  interest,  for  the  presence  and 
power  of  God  were  manifested  in  them  all. 

There  were  numerous  displays  of  God's  marvellous  grace 
during  this  meeting. 

A  widow  lady,  living  in  the  village  of  Adams,  six  miles  off", 
had  a  son  fourteen  years  old,  who  was  serving  an  apprenticeship 
at  French  Creek.  While  on  a  visit  to  his  home  he  heard  of 
our  meetings,  and  of  his  sister's  conversion  there.  His  mother 
desired  him  to  go  over  to  Loraine  ;  he  replied,  "  Mother,  I  did 
not  come  home  to  go  to  meeting ;  I  came  to  visit  you,  and 
must  soon  return  to  my  employer."  She  told  him  that  his 
trade  would  do  him  but  little  good,  if  he  should  lose  his  soul. 
She  finally  commanded  him  to  go,  urging  him  to  make  himself 
known  to  Elder  Knapp  or  Deacon  Tenman.  God  prepared 
his  heart  as  he  journeyed  on  the  way  ;  and  reaching  the  steps  of 
the  church,  he  stood  by  the  door,  weeping.  At  that  moment  the 
deacon  was  passing  by,  and  noticed  him.  Putting  his  hand 
very  kindly  on  the  shoulder  of  the  lad,  he  asked  him  what  was 
the  matter.  He  told  his  errand,  and  the  deacon,  taking  him  by 
the  hand,  led  him  .into  the  inquiry -room,  and  asked  all  to  pray 
for  him. 

After  an  affecting  season  had  been  spent  in  prayer,  the  lad 
rose  up,  and  going  to  the  deacon,  told  him  that  he  wanted  to  go 
home.  "  What,"  said  the  deacon,  "  are  you  tired  of  the  meet- 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  65 

ing  so  soon?"  "  No,  sir,"  he  replied,  "  but  I  must  see  my 
mother ;  I  will  come  back  again."  He  hastened  home  with  a 
light  heart,  and  rushing  into  the  house,  he  fell  on  his  mother's 
neck,  and  kissing  her,  exclaimed,  "  O,  my  dear  mother,  I  thank 
you  a  thousand  times,  that  you  compelled  me  to  attend  that 
meeting !  I  have  found  the  blessed  Savior,  and  all  my  sins  are 
forgiven  me."  This  mother  was  like  unto  "Abraham,  who 
commanded  his  house  after  him." 

HANNIBAL  CENTRE. 

During  this  same  year,  I  held  a  meeting  in  Hannibal  Centre, 
Oswego  County,  N.  Y.  On  entering  the  Baptist  meeting-house, 
I  found  the  building  cold ;  the  wood  that  had  been  brought  in 
was  covered  with  snow,  and  would  not^burn.  The  congregation 
was  small,  and  their  hearts  as  cold  as  the  weather.  A  brother 
some  time  afterwards  reminded  me  (though  I  had  forgotten  it), 
that  after  a  few  of  them  had  prayed  as  well  as  they  could,  I 
rose  up  and  remarked,  that  "  such  prayers  as  these  will  freeze 
us  all  to  death." 

But  we  held  on  to  the  promises,  and  the  blessing  came.  The 
people  soon  began  to  flock  to  hear  the  word,  and  the  house  was 
filled.  I  pitched  into  Universalism  as  usual.  And  after  all 
supposed  I  had  exhausted  my  thoughts  and  my  vocabulary,  I 
announced  that  on  a  given  night  I  should  preach  another  sermon 
on  Universalism.  Two  of  the  leading  members  of  that  sect 
came  in  to  take  notes  for  their  newspaper.  The  power  of  God 
confounded  his  enemies,  and  vindicated  the  truth.  Both  of 
these  reporters  were  converted.  Elder  Woodin  was  the  pastor 
of  this  church. 

A  man  by  the  name  of  K.,  with  whom  I  had  boarded  in 
Springfield  before  my  marriage,  was  then  living  some  eight  miles 
from  this  place.  He  had  given  way  to  the  use  of  strong  drink  ; 
his  property  was  squandered,  his  family  were  reduced  to  want, 
his  wife  was  dead,  and  he  was  excluded  from  the  church.  I 
had  not  seen  them  for  years  ;  and  now  that  I  was  so  near  to 
them,  it  seemed  to  me  that  the  departed  spirit  of  sister  K.  was 


66  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

continually  saying  to  me,  "  Look  after  my  poor  motherless 
children."  This  impression  became  so  strong,  that  I  induced 
Captain  Bullen,  an  excellent  brother,  with  whom  I  was  board- 
ing, to  send  a  sleigh  after  them,  and  bring  them  to  me. 

While  brother  Luther  Myrick  was  preaching,  a  daughter  of 
sister  K.  came  into  the  church.  Though  she  had  grown  up, 
and  was  then  married,  I  knew  her  in  a  moment,  and  began  to 
plead  with  God  for  her  soul.  After  the  sermon  was  finished, 
and  the  anxious  were  invited  forward,  she  rose  up  at  once,  and 
was  converted  before  she  left  the  house. 

The  son  I  did  not  see,  but  I  sent  for  the  father.  I  brought 
all  my  power  to  bear  on  him  to  persuade  him  to  reform.  I 
reminded  him  of  his  former  respectable  standing ;  of  his  loving 
companion,  whose  heart  he  had  broken.  I  told  him  of  the 
crucified  Savior,  whose  blood  he  had  trampled  under  foot,  and 
warned  him  of  the  hell  that  awaited  him  ;  but  all  to  no  purpose. 
The  devil  had  made  such  a  cowardly  sneak  of  him,  that  he 
dared  not  meet  his  drunken  associates,  and  tell  them  of  his' 
reformation.  This  was  where  the  shoe  pinched.  So  the  poor 
fellow  went  over  the  dam. 

During  this  meeting  scores  were  converted.  To  God  be  all 
the  glory. 

OSWEGO. 

While  I  was  living  in  Watertovvn,  a  messenger  came  from 
Oswego,  N.  Y.,  to  urge  me  to  go  to  that  town,  and  assist 
brother  Myrick,  a  Congregationalist  minister,  in  a  meeting 
already  begun.  There  were  some  indications  for  good  before  I 
reached  there,  and  the  work  continued  to  increase  in  interest 
aud  power. 

Among  many  others,  who  bowed  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  was 
Mr.  Peter  S.  Smith,  a  brother  of  Gerritt  Smith.*  He  was  a 
splendid  man  at  the  bar,  and  a  member  of  the  vestry  of  the 
Episcopal  church.  When  this  man  took  a  stand  for  Christ,  the 

*  Gerritt  Smith  has  been  widely  known,  and  will  ever  be  remembered 
and  honored  as  a  champion  of  anti-slavery,  and  an  exemplar  of  noble 
philanthropy. 


ELDER  JACOB    KNAPP.  67 

tide  of  salvation  seemed  to'  sweep  on  with  mighty  power  ;  many, 
who  had  hitherto  ignored  the  work  as  mere  excitement,  began 
to  think  that  there  was  a  divine  reality  in  it,  and  multitudes 
believed,  both  of  men  and  women. 

Of  course  here,  as  elsewhere,  some,  even  professed  Christians, 
opposed  this  way  of  laboring  for  God,  and  "  some  doubted." 
All  was  new  to  them.  Nevertheless,  it  was  impossible  that 
earnest  prayers  should  be  constantly  offered,  that  solemn  and 
sometimes  vehement  sermons  should  be  preached,  and  that  the 
most  touching  appeal^  should  be  made,  and  the  most  awful 
warnings  given,  together  with  personal  overtures  to  individual 
consciences,  without  producing  an  excitement  and  making  au 
impression.  I  remember  well  a  remark  made  by  Judge  Hart 
to  a  friend  of  his  (neither  of  them  professors  of  religion).  I 
was  walking  behind  them,  one  dark  and  dreary  night,  and  heard 
the  strange  gentleman  say,  "  Judge,  what  do  you  think  of  this 
excitement?  "  The  judge  replied,  "  I  like  it ;  it  makes  religion 
a  reality."  This  was  a  word  of  great  encouragement,  and  it 
implied  a  great  deal. 

A  dry  goods  merchant,  whose  wife  was  a  member  of  the 
Baptist  church,  was  brought  to  see  his  lost  condition  ;  his  dis- 
tress increased  daily  until  sleep  departed  from  him.  His  agony 
became  unendurable.  At  a  late  hour,  one  night,  he  sent  out 
for  brother  Savage,  the  pastor,  and  myself  to  come  over  and 
pray  for  him.  It  was  soon  discovered  that,  in  a  business  trans- 
action, he  had  defrauded  a  man  out  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars.  As  soon  as  he  had  made  mention  of  this,  and  of  his 
purpose  to  make  restitution,  he  found  peace  to  his  soul. 

The  number  of  converts  at  this  meeting  was  counted  by 
hundreds ;  they  were  scattered  among  the  different  churches, 
never  to  be  gathered  together  again  until  the  morning  of  the 
resurrection. 


68  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 


CHAPTER   VII. 

ACCOUNTS    OF    PROTRACTED    MEETINGS. 
(1834-5.) 

AUBURN  :  A  Disturber.  —  Opposition.  —  Cowards.  —  Stage  Bide.  —  A 
Surprise.  —  PHCENIXVILLE  :  Church  organized.  —  ITHACA  :  Con- 
version of  Mr.  M.  —  BROOME  STREET,  NEW  YORK  CITY  :  Hyper- 
Calvinism.  —  REMOVAL  TO  HAMILTON.  —  Reasons. 

AUBURN. 

IN  the  year  1834,  I  conducted  a  protracted  meeting  with  the 
Baptist  church  in  Auburn,  Cayuga  County,  N.  Y.  I  felt 
somewhat  embarrassed  for  a  time  in  this  place,  because  I  had 
not  been  accustomed  to  preach  in  such  a  large  town,  nor  such  a 
fine  church.  But  as  I  went  on  in  my  work,  thoughts  of  these 
things  vanished  out  of  my  mind.  The  new  method  of  present- 
ing the  gospel  captivated  some  and  repelled  others.  Deacon 
Daniels,  of  Scipio,  came  into  town  on  business,  and  coming  in 
to  hear  a  sermon,  was  so  deeply  interested,  that  he  remained  a 
whole  week,  and  told  his  friends  that  he  would  not  take  the 
best  farm  in  the  town  of  Scipio  for  what  he  had  learned  during 
that  week. 

But  the  work  was  no  sooner  well  under  way,  than  the  devil 
began  to  be  disturbed.  Opposition,  not  only  in  words,  but  in 
action,  became  stronger  and  stronger.  One  man,  who  declared 
that  his  damnation  was  sealed,  always  began  to  rave  whenever 
a  season  of  religious  interest  began  to  prevail  in  the  place.  He 
would  go  up  and  down  the  streets  cursing  and  swearing,  and 
doing  all  in  his  power  to  break  up  the  meeting.  He  would 
constantly  make  a  noise  in  the  vestibule,  thumping  against  the 


ELDER  JACOB    KNAPP.  69 

wall,  and  stamping  up  and  down  the  stairs.  On  one  of  these 
occasions,  a  deacon  stepped  out  and  requested  him  to  be  quiet, 
or  leave  the  house  ;  immediately  this  son  of  Belial  laid  violent 
hands  on  him,  and  forced  him  headlong  down  the  steps,  and 
instantly  ran  off  and  swore  out  a  warrant  against  the  deacon  for 
assault  and  battery.  On  the  next  morning  the  deacon  was 
summoned  to  trial. 

In  the  mean  time  the  wicked  had  organized  their  forces,  and 
began  to  threaten  to  ride  me  on  a  rail.  They  went  so  far  as  to 
go  into  the  woods  and  cut  a  pole,  and  put  it  up  on  a  corner 
which  they  knew  I  was  accustomed  to  pass.  This  demonstra- 
tion alarmed  many  of  my  friends,  and  some  of  them  began  to 
remonstrate  with  me  ;  but  I  replied,  "•  Don't  be  concerned  ;  if 
they  intended  to  do  anything  of  the  kind,  they  would  have  kept 
the  pole  out  of  sight."  On  the  same  night  some  of  them  came 
into  the  meeting,  were  smitten  down  by  the  power  of  God's 
truth,  and  had  to  be  carried  to  their  homes. 

In  addressing  the  congregation  the  next  evening,  I  indulged 
in  a  little  irony  (as  did  Elijah  before  the  priests  of  Baal).  I 
told  them  that  it  was  a  hard  thing  to  fight  against  God  ;  that 
they  were  a  faint-hearted  set  of  fellows  ;  that  if  they  had  even 
succeeded  in  getting  me  on  their  pole,  they  would  have  probably 
fainted,  and  let  me  fall  and  break  my  neck ;  and  then,  in  a 
more  solemn  manner,  I  proceeded  to  press  the  inquiries,  "  Who 
hath  contended  with  Him  and  prospered?"  and,  "If  the  foot- 
men have  wearied  thee,  how  canst  thou  contend  with  the  horse- 
men ?  " 

When  the  time  for  the  mock  trial  of  the  deacon  had  arrived, 
a  party  of  fellows,  of  "  the  baser  sort,"  started,  in  company 
with  the  deputy  sheriff,  to  arrest  me,  pretending  that  they 
wanted  me  as  a  witness.  On  reaching  my  boarding-house, 
Squire  Burgess,  the  gentleman  with  whom  I  was  staying,  told 
them  that  they  could  not  see  Mr.  Knapp,  and,  finding  that  they 
insisted  on  forcing  an  entrance,  called  to  him  a  large,  savage 
dog,  and  informed  them  that  he  gave  them  just  five  minutes  in 
which  to  leave  his  premises,  and  that  at  the  end  of  that  time, 


70  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

if  they  were  not  gone,  he  would  set  his  dog  on  them.  The 
faithful  creature  seemed  to  understand  the  demands  of  the 
occasion,  and  impatiently  awaited  the  signal  from  his  master ; 
but  before  the  time  had  expired,  the  cowardly  crew  thought 
discretion  to  be  the  better  part  of  valor,  and  withdrew.  Of 
course  the  suit  amounted  to  nothing. 

A  goodly  number  were  converted  in  this  meeting,  though  it 
lasted  only  about  three  weeks.  In  those  days  we  had  learned 
the  importance  of  holding  on  until  we  not  only  "  carry  the  bat- 
tle to  the  gates  of  the  city,  but  until  we  go  up  and  possess  it." 

When  I  took  the  stage  for  Oswego,  where  I  was  at  that  time 
residing,  I  found  myself  seated  with  six  gentlemen,  five  of  whom 
were  Christians.  With  them  I  had  a  delightful  season  of 
religious  conversation  ;  but  on  turning  to  the  other,  and  intro- 
ducing the  subject  of  religion  to  him,  I  was  met  by  a  very  frank 
request  to  "  mind  my  own  business."  I  replied  that  I  was 
doing  so  ;  that  it  was  my  business  to  look  after  the  salvation 
of  souls,  and  that  I  meant  to  attend  to  it  faithfully,  and  stick  to 
him  like  a  brother.  I  soon  found  that  he  was  a  confirmed 
Universalist.  I  finally  suggested  to  him,  that  "  if  a  few  hours' 
conversation  with  Christians  in  a  stage-coach  was  unendurable, 
how  did  he  think  he  would  stand  it  in  heaven,  where  there 
would  be  millions  of  saints,  much  holier  than  we  were  then,  and 
where  all  would  be  absorbed  in  holiness."  He  answered  that 
he  did  not  care  to  trouble  himself  on  the  subject.  It  was 
not  long,  however,  before  he  called  out  to  the  driver  to  stop  and 
let  him  get  out,  saying  he  would  rather  lose  his  fare,  than  ride 
in  a  coach  with  saints  and  be  bored  with  their  talk. 

I  was  relating  this  circumstance,  a  few  years  afterwards,  to 
a  congregation  in  Schenectady,  when,  to  my  astonishment  and 
delight,  a  gentleman  arose,  and  stated  that  he  was  the  man 
referred  to  ;  and  he  went  on  to  say,  that,  from  that  hour,  he  had 
no  peace  until  he  renounced  his  Universalism,  and  found  "  peace 
in  believing"  in  Jesus.  As  he  trudged  on  in  the  mud,  the 
questions  which  I  had  propounded  began  to  ring  in  his  ear. 
He  began  to  realize  that  heaven  must,  of  course,  be  a  religious 


ELDER  JACOB    KNAPP.  71 

place,  aud  the  inhabitants  of  it  must  be  engaged  in  speaking 
and  singing  of  the  praises  of  Jesus ;  that  there  would  be  no 
business,  nor  amusements,  nor  worldly  conversation  there  ;  and 
that  if  he  got  in  there,  he  would  not  be  able  to  get  out  as  easily 
as  he  had  got  out  of  the  stage  ;  and  if  he  could  get  out  of 
heaven,  where  else  would  he  want  to  go?  He  saw  the  sinful- 
ness  of  his  nature,  and  his  need  of  a  regenerating  change,  in 
order  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  God. 

PHCENIXVILLE. 

In  the  autumn  of  1834  I  attended  a  meeting  at  Phoenixville, 
N.  Y.  At  that  time  there  was  no  Christian  church  in  the 
place,  and  scarcely  a  person  who  professed  the  Christian  name. 
I  put  up  at  the  public  house  kept  by  Colonel  Richards,  who 
was  a  Universalist.  The  meeting  was  called  by  a  few  Chris- 
tians of  different  denominations,  who  resided  in  the  vicinity. 
The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  came  down  with  power,  and  in  about 
eight  days  more  than  one  hundred  souls  were  hopefully  con- 
verted, among  whom  were  Colonel  Richards,  his  wife,  and 
daughter.  I  baptized  fifty-nine,  and,  aided  by  neighboring 
pastors,  organized  them  into  a  church. 

ITHACA. 

In  the  year  1835  I  held  a  meeting  with  the  Baptist  church  in 
Ithaca,  N.  Y.  It  continued  forty  days,  during  which  time  I 
preached  night  and  day.  The  Baptist  church  was  small,  and 
in  a  low  condition.  In  consequence  of  long-standing  difficulties 
and  violent  contentions,  the  community  was  generally  prejudiced 
against  the  church,  and  many  who  otherwise  would  have  been 
disposed  to  attend  on  its  worship,  had  turned  away  in  dis- 
gust. 

This  meeting  was  gotten  up  at  the  instance  of  our  beloved 
brethren,  Thomas  and  Bronson,*  who,  at  that  time,  were  sup- 

*  Eev.  J.  Thomas  was  killed  by  the  falling  of  a  tree  across  his  boat, 
just  as  he  came  in  sight  of  the  city  to  which  he  had  been  designated  as 
the  field  of  his  future  labors.  Kev.  Mr.  Bronson  is  still  living,  and  labor- 
ing in  Assam,  a  veteran  in  the  missionary  service. 


72  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

plying  the  church,  and  afterwards  went  as  missionaries  to 
Assam,  India.  It  commenced  on  the  first  day  of  January. 
God  was  pleased  to  bless  our  efforts.  The  Holy  Spirit  was 
poured  out  on  the  entire  community.  Saints  were  humbled, 
differences  were  reconciled,  and  the  hearts  of  many,  who  had 
been  alienated  from  each  other,  were  subdued  and  reunited 
under  the  power  of  Christian  love,  and  the  impenitent  were 
brought  to  repentance.  I  baptized  into  the  fellowship  of  the 
church  one  hundred  and  twenty  converts.  Among  those  who 
professed  their  faith  in  Christ  were  some  noted  infidels.  One 
instance  of  this  class  of  conversions  is  worth  relating.  The 
wife  of  Mr.  M.  had  been  converted  during  the  meetings. 
When  she  came  out,  and  avowed  her  faith,  he  became  exceed- 
ingly enraged.  The  providence  of  God  cast  him  in  my  way 
one  morning  as  I  was  about  to  leave  the  village.  I  commenced 
conversation  with  him  concerning  the  interests  of  his  soul.  He 
did  not  hesitate  to  abuse  me  with  his  tongue,  and  withal 
threatened  to  cowskin  me.  I  treated  him  kindly,  broke  him 
down  on  every  position  he  took,  and  as  I  rose  to  go,  offered 
him  my  hand.  He  refused  to  take  it,  putting  his  behind  him. 
I,  however,  stepped  round  him,  took  hold  of  his  hand,  and 
gently  squeezing  it,  said,  "  Take  care,  friend  M.,  lest  you  lose 
your  immortal  soul."  God  was  pleased  to  cause  these  words  to 
sink  down  into  his  heart  like  melted  iron,  and  he  began  to  walk 
the  streets  in  great  agony  of  mind.  At  length  he  went  into  the 
prayer-meeting,  and  unable  longer  to  control  his  feelings,  fell 
down  on  his  knees,  and  begged  the  prayers  of  those  whom  he 
had  despised  and  reviled.  Casting  his  all  on  the  mercy  of  God 
through  Christ,  he  rose  up  rejoicing  in  hope,  and  shortly  after- 
wards sent  forme  to  return,  a  journey  of  seventy  miles,  and  bap- 
tize him. 

THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK,  1835. 

In  the  spring  of  1835  I  was  invited  to  preach  in  the  Broome 
Street  Baptist  Church  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Their  house 
of  worship  was  a  small  building  located  near  the  East  River.  I 
found  the  condition  of  the  Baptist  churches  there  to  be,  for  the 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  73 

most  part,  in  a  low  state.  The  blighting  influence  of  hyper- 
Calvinism  seemed  to  spread  the  palsy  of  inaction  on  all  their 
desires  to  serve  God.  This  church  had  been  organized  ten 
years,  and  though  located  in  the  midst  of  a  large  population,  it 
had,  at  the  time  I  visited  them,  only  thirty-seven  members. 
The  themes  to  which  they  wished  to  listen  were  the  decrees  of 
God,  particular  redemption,  personal  and  unconditional  election, 
eternal  justification,  perseverance  of  the  saints  (going  backwards 
or  forwards) ,  and  baptism.  The  presentation  of  any  other  topic 
from  the  pulpit  was  deemed  a  heresy ;  and  the  most  guarded 
pleas  for  Christian  effort  in  the  salvation  of  sinners  was 
denounced  as  Arminianism,  and  more  to  be  dreaded  than  infi- 
delity. 

The  meetings  soon  became  quite  interesting.  The  Lord  was 
in  our  midst.  Many  were  reconverted,  and  entered  into  the 
work.  But  some,  even  of  those  who  had  been  praying  for  the 
revival  of  God's  work,  began  to  be  alarmed  at  the  way  in  which 
he  was  answering  their  petitions.  One  good  brother,  fearing  it 
was  the  work  of  man  rather  than  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  made  up 
his  mind  to  come  out  publicly  and  oppose  it ;  but  after  making 
the  matter  a  subject  of  special  prayer,  was  induced  to  acquaint 
himself  more  intimately  with  the  experiences  of  those  "who  were 
seeking  or  professing  salvation.  And  when  he  found  that  the 
inquirers  ascribed  their  sadness  and  anxiety  to  their  discoveries 
of  their  own  sinfulness  and  helplessness  in  the  sight  of  the 
violated  law,  and  that  they  readily  acknowledged  the  justice  of 
God  in  their  condemnation,  and  when  he  heard  the  converts 
ascribe  their  peace,  and  joy,  and  love  to  the  all-sufficiency  of  the 
perfect  righteousness  of  Christ,  he  saw  that  they  were  taught  of 
God,  and  led  by  his  Holy  Spirit ;  and  instead  of  rising  before 
the  people  to  oppose  and  denounce,  he  broke  forth  into  strains 
of  joyful  approbation,  and  gave  his  soul  up  to  an  unreserved 
and  practical  sympathy  with  the  work.  The  protracted  meet- 
ings continued  about  four  weeks ;  and  as  the  church  had  no 
pastor,  I  remained  with  them  a  few  months  longer.  The  num- 
ber that  were  baptized,  during  my  stay  with  this  people,  was 
about  two  hundred. 
7 


74  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

But  though  urged  to  accept  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  church, 
with  fair  prospects  of  increase  in  numbers  and  influence,  yet  the 
condition  of  the  world  at  large  was  ever  before  me.  Millions 
were  crowding  their  way  to  hell,  and  churches  seemed  to  be 
sleeping  over  them.  And  though  rny  wife  was  afflicted  with 
feeble  health,  and  my  family  was  increasing  in  numbers,  and 
in  claims  on  my  attention,  yet  I  felt  constrained  with  the  over- 
mastering conviction  that  God  had  called  me  to  go  forth  among 
the  churches,  and  I  dared  not  be  "  disobedient  to  the  heavenly 
vision." 

REMOVAL  TO  HAMILTON. 

Until  this  time  I  had,  for  the  most  part,  kept  my  family  some- 
where in  the  region  of  country  where  I  was  laboring.  At 
length  it  became  apparent  that  it  was  my  duty  to  secure  them  a 
comfortable  and  permanent  home  in  some  central  location. 
After  praying  and  reflecting  for  some  time  on  the  subject,  I 
concluded  to  select  the  village  of  Hamilton,  Madison  County, 
N.  Y. 

Several  considerations  operated  in  bringing  me  to  this  con- 
clusion. In  the  first  place,  the  Baptist  Literary  and  Theologi- 
cal Institution  was  located  there.  And  I  hoped  that  my  style 
of  preaching,  and  methods  of  presenting  subjects,  would  be  of 
some  service  to  the  students  for  the  ministry,  in  enabling  them 
to  combine  the  simple  and  plain  presentation  of  the  Gospel  with 
the  advantages  of  literary  culture  and  systematic  training.  In 
the  second  place,  I  knew  that  Hamilton  was  the  seat  of  a  strong 
prejudice  against  me,  and  one  which,  unless  dissipated,  would 
seriously  affect  the  after  ministry  of  the  young  men  who  would 
go  forth  from  the  Institution  as  the  instructors  and  overseers  of 
the  churches.  For  a  while  after  I  took  up  my  residence  there, 
I  was  studiously  denied  access  to  the  pulpit,  and  nearly  every 
sign  of  denominational  recognition.  In  less  than  two  years, 
however,  this  prejudice  was  swept  by  the  board,  by  the  rising 
tides  of  public  sympathy  and  confidence.  In  the  third  place, 
the  village  was  reputed  for  its  healthiness  and  the  excellence 
of  its  schools. 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  75 

My  family  was  now  pleasantly  settled,  and  I  was  free  from 
domestic  anxiety,  for  God  opened  the  hearts  of  his  people,  from 
time  to  time,  so  that  we  lacked  for  nothing  that  was  needful  for 
our  comfort.  Thus  I  was  enabled  to  devote  my  entire  time  to 
the  work  of  preaching,  and  laboring  in  protracted  meetings.  I 
was  also  highly  favored  in  the  matter  of  health  and  the  power 
of  endurance,  so  that  I  was  able  to  preach  from  two  to  three 
times  a  day  almost  constantly,  besides  attending  anxious  and 
prayer-meetings.  , 

I  continued  holding  meetings  both  summer  and  winter,  seed 
time  and  harvest,  for  some  two  years,  principally  in  the  middle 
section  of  the  State  of  New  York.  And  notwithstanding  all  my 
weakness  and  unworthiness,  God  abundantly  blessed  these 
meetings,  and  in  each  of  them  many  souls  were  converted.  A 
short  account  of  a  few  of  them  may  be  interesting  and  prof- 
itable. 


76  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

ACCOUNTS    OF    PEOTRACTED    MEETINGS. 
(1836.) 

BRIDGEWATER  :  A  Lawyer.  —  A  Ball.  —  A  Case  of  Prejudice.  — 
The  Presbyterian  Minister.  —  BENNINGTON,  VT.  :  Thirty-one 
Tears  afterwards.  —  WATERVILLE  :  Distilleries.  —  Liquor  Dealers. 
—  Proposed  attack. 

BRIDGEWATER. 

IN  1836  a  meeting  was  arranged  in  Bridgewater,  N.  Y.,  in 
which  I  was  to  preach  alternately  in  the  Baptist  and  Presby- 
terian churches.  "We  began  with  encouraging  prospects,  and 
went  on  well.  The  interest  increased  day  by  day.  Both 
churches  worked  harmoniously. 

Among  the  converts  was  an  eminent  lawyer,  who  stated  that, 
for  the  last  eight  years,  remorse  of  conscience,  and  the  un- 
avoidable evils  of  this  life,  had  been  more  than  enough  to 
counterbalance  all  the  happiness  which  he  had  ever  enjoyed,  so 
that  he  had  come  to  regard  a  state  of  non-existence  preferable  to 
that  of  conscious  being.  But  since  he  had  believed  in  Jesus,  he 
declared  that  he  had  found  true  happiness,  and  he  could  say 
that  it  was  a  blessing  to  live  even  in  this  world,  while  his  soul 
was  made  to  rejoice  beyond  expression  in  the  hope  of  living 
forever. 

When  this  revival  was  at  its  height,  the  young  people  of  the 
place  arranged  to  hold  a  ball.  On  the  night  appointed,  the 
people  of  God  held  an  all-night  prayer-meeting.  They  danced 
while  we  prayed.  But  the  ball  was  not  a  succ'ess.  They  ad- 
journed at  a  very  early  hour.  Nobody  seemed  to  be  in  a  mood 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  77 

for  sport.  Many  came  over  to  the  prayer-meeting,  and  several 
were  converted  before  it  closed. 

There  were  connected  with  the  congregation  of  the  Baptist 
church  a  well-known  gentleman  and  lady,  who  had  not  at- 
tended any  of  the  meetings  since  I  had  begun  to  .preach. 
Brother  Simmons  and  Deacon  Allen  called  upon  them,  and 
learned  that  they  had  heard,  that  Mr.  Knapp  had  refused  to 
come  to  preach  in  the  place  until  a  certain  amount  of  money 
had  been  raised  for  him ;  and  they  thought,  that  if  he  preached 
for  money,  his  preaching  would  do  them  no  good.  These 
brethren  informed  them  of  their  mistake ;  that  they  had  cor- 
responded with  Mr.  Knapp  concerning  his  visit,  and  had  asked 
him  to  state  how  much  he  would  expect  for  his  services,  and 
how  his  family  was  supported,  and  that  Elder  Knapp  had 
replied,  "  that  he  made  no  charges ;  that  he  went  wherever 
the  Master  called.  If  his  labors  were  blessed,  and  anybody 
was  disposed  to  contribute  anything  for  the  support  of  his 
family,  it  would  be  thankfully  received ;  that  no  demand  was 
made  for  compensation,  not  even  for  travelling  expenses." 

They  expressed  themselves  very  much  mortified  at  being  so 
greatly  imposed  upon  by  the  devil's  pedlers,  and  came  at  once 
to  hear  me  preach.  At  the  close  of  the  first  sermon  they  heard, 
the  wife  came  crowding  her  way  along  the  aisle,  and,  reaching 
out  her  hand  to  me,  the  tears  streaming  down  her  cheeks,  she 
said,  "  Mr.  Knapp,  I  wish  to  make  a  confession  to  you."  I  re- 
plied, "  My  dear  woman,  why  do  you  wish  to  confess  to  me? 
I  do  not  know  you."  She  replied,  "  I  have  cherished  wicked 
and  unfounded  prejudices  against  you,  and  I  would  not  hear 
you  preach  ;  and  now,  under  the  first  sermon  I  have  heard  you 
preach,  God  has  broken  my  heart." 

In  consequence  of  his  deep  anxiety  and  exhaustive  labors  in 
this  meeting,  the  excellent  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church 
lost  his  health,  and  for  a  time  it  was  feared  that  his  reason 
would  be  destroyed.  Sometimes  he  would  preach  when  border- 
ing on  the  verge  of  insanity ;  and  never,  in  my  life,  did  I  hear 
from  mortal  lips  the  realities  of  eternal  truth  portrayed  in 


78  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

• 

language  that  seemed  so  inspired  by  the  breath  of  God,  and 
visions  of  the  world  to  come.  O,  thought  I,  that  ministers 
would  always  preach  under  such  a  near  sense  of  the  judgment, 
heaven  and  hell,  and  with  less  regard  to  the  feelings,  the 
frowns,  and  the  favor  of  men  ! 

BENNINGTON. 

In  the  autumn  of  1836  I  held  a  meeting  in  Bennington,  Vt. 
The  place  being  small,  Christians  of  all  denominations  united 
in  giving  interest  to  the  services.  The  word  preached  was 
made  "  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation."  The  Spirit  of  God 
came  down  on  the  youth  in  great  power.  Sometimes  fifteen  or 
twenty  would  cry  aloud  for  mercy  at  a  time.  The  converts 
united  with  the  different  churches. 

Thirty-one  years  afterwards  I  met  a  number  of  them  iu 
Elmira,  who  gave  an  interesting  account  of  many  who  were 
converted  at  that  time,  and  who  have  since  been  active  and 
prominent  laborers  in  the  cause  of  Christ.  Some  became 
eminent  business  men,  others  judges,  others  teachers  and 
preachers. 

During  this  meeting  the  devil  was  disturbed.  Accordingly, 
he  stirred  up  a  company  of  persons  to  do  all  they  could  to 
hinder  the  progress  of  the  work.  One  night  some  one  went  up 
into  the  steeple  of  the  church  and  took  out  the  tongue  of  the 
bell.  Much  prayer  was  offered  for  the  persons  who  were 
engaged  in  this  transaction  ;  and  I  ventured  to  utter  a  predic- 
tion that  within  one  year  from  that  time  the  young  men,  who 
had  thus  attempted  to  silence  the  voice  of  God,  would  be  in  hell. 
It  was  afterwards  ascertained  that  two  young  men  did  the  deed  ; 
and  surely  enough,  in  less  than  a  year  afterwards  they  both 
died,  and  died  without  hope.  One  of  them  arose  from  his  bed 
in  the  night,  and  opening  a  door  in  the  dark,  fell  headlong  and 
broke  his  neck. 

WATERVILLE. 

During  the  same  year  I  conducted  a  meeting  in  the  Whis- 
key-mill village  of  Waterville,  N.  Y.  Here  there  were  four 


ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  79 

or  five  distilleries  in  full  blast.  I  came  out  decidedly  against 
this  soul-destroying  business,  and  told  the  people  that  the  only 
way  in  which  they  could  save  their  capital,  would  be  to  wind  up 
those  concerns,  and  invest  their  money  in  enterprises  that  con- 
duced to  their  moral  and  religious  well  being.  One  of  them 
took  my  advice.  The  others  kept  on  until  they  failed  and  sank 
into  poverty. 

Much  opposition  was  manifested  to  my  ministry  here  by  the 
retail  dealers  in  this  damning  traffic.  They  organized  a  club, 
and  pledged  their  fidelity  to  each  other  to  break  up  the  meeting, 
cost  them  what  it  might.  One  night  a  gang  came  into  the 
church  with  clubs  and  missiles  of  different  kinds,  such  as  pokers 
and  crowbars,  and  seated  themselves  in  a  body.  I  had  been 
informed  that  they  intended  mischief,  and  this  bold  and  defiant 
bearing  confirmed  the  rumor.  • 

After  the  sermon  was  concluded  I  dismissed  the  congrega- 
tion, and  requested  all  who  wished  to  pray  to  remain.  Nearly 
all  the  Christian  people  tarried,  and  we  continued  in  prayer 
until  near  morning.  The  gang  of  intended  disturbers  made  no 
offensive  movement,  and  finally,  being  "  convicted  in  their 
consciences,  they  went  out  one  by  one."  There  was  no  further 
talk  of  disturbance.  Large  accessions  were  made  to  all  the 
churches,  and  the  public  sentiment  became  changed  from  opposi- 
tion to  sympathy  with  the  preacher  and  his  measures.  I  had 
long  before  this  learned  that  ministers  could  as  easily  control 
public  opinion,  as  to  allow  it  to  control  them.  All  that  is 
needful  is  that  they  take  a  bold  stand  for  the  right,  and  trust 
in  God  for  strength  to  maintain  it. 


80  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 


CHAPTER    IX.'* 

',' .-•  ' '--    .  t  •  ' 

ACCOUNTS   OF  PROTRACTED  MEETINGS. 

(1837.) 

HAMILTON  :  Fear  of  Men.  —  Co-laborers.  —  Results.  —  Day  of  Small " 
Things.  —  PENNYAN  :  Large  Accessions.  —  Commotion  among  the 
Infidels.  —  Meeting-house  paid  for.  —  A  Case  of  Conviction.  —  A 
Legacy  of  Ministers. 

HAMILTON. 

IN  the  winter  of  183*7  I  held  a  meeting  with  the  Baptist 
church  in  Hamilton,  N.  Y.  I  felt  considerable  embarrass- 
ment in  undertaking  to  preach  in  this  place.  Here  I  had  been 
educated,  and  here  I  had  married.  Withal,  I  was  not  insensi- 
ble of  the  fact  that  in  my  congregation  would  be  those  whose 
habits  of  thought  and  feeling  inclined  them  to  criticise  sermons. 

As  to  their  literary  and  intellectual  merits,  I  knew  that  I  was 
not  punctilious  as  to  my  modes  of  speech,  and  more  anxious  to 
reach  the  consciences  of  men,  than  to  please  their  fancies  or 
their  love  of  display.  Yet,  after  I  had  got  well  under  way,  I 
lost  sight  of  all  these  things.  The  great  things  of  God,  and 
God  and  eternity,  rolled'up  before  me  in  such  a  light,  that  I  was 
determined  to  kftow  nothing  among  them  save  "  Jesus  Christ 
and  him  crucified." 

The  church  was  soon  ajcoused.  The  students  generally  came 
in  and  took  hold  of  the  work  with  warm  hearts.  Several  of 
the  professors  in  the  Institution  were  greatly  enlisted.  Espe- 
cially may  I  make  mom  ion  of^the  venerable  Dr.  Nathaniel  Ken- 
drick.  He  was  a  warrrf-ljteated,  devoted  servant  of  Christ,  and 
was  then  ripening  for  heaven.  Squire  Payne,  Deacon  Payne, 
and  Judge  Olmstead  were  all  in  their  element,  entering  with  a 
holy  zest  into  this  their  last  revival  season  on  earth.  Very 


ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  81 

W  "  4||     -    '. 

many  souls  were  converted.  All-night  prayer  meetings  were 
held.  The  atmosphere  seemed  impregnated  with  a  divine 
influence. 

Among  those  whom  it  was  my  privilege  to  baptize  as  the 
fruits  of  this  meeting,  were  my  eldest  daughter,  now  the  wife 
of  A.  J.  Bingham ;  J.  R.  Kendrick,  now  the  pastor  of  the 
Tabernacle  Baptist  Church,  in  the  city  of  New  York  ;  Samuel 
C.  Griggs,  then  a  poor  boy,  but  now  a  successful  book  publisher 
in  Chicago,  111. ;  Mr.  Kendall,  now  a  well-known  business  man 
in  St.  Louis  and  Alton  ;  Dr.  Douglass,  then  a  practising  physi- 
cian, and  afterwards  a  professor  in  the  Medical  College  at 
Cleveland,  Ohio. 

It  was  a  very  common  remarkramong  those  who  opposed  me, 
that  "  Mr.  Knapp  was  adapted  to  reach  only  a  certain  class, 
and  that  they  were  only  the  poorer  and  less  influential." 
Such  people  did  not  seem  to  know  that  the  poor  of  one  genera- 
tion become  the  rich  of  the  next.  If  it  were  possible  to  enumer- 
ate all  who  were  converted  under  my  ministry,  and  afterwards 
became  eminent  in  the  various  walks  of  life,  and  who  have 
consecrated  their  attainments  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  they  would, 
perhaps,  learn  the  folly  of  despising  the  day  of  small  things. 

PENNY  AN. 

In  August,  1837, 1  was  called  to  attend  a  meeting  in  Pennyan, 
Yates  County,  N.  Y.  The  Baptist  church  in  this  village  was 
young  and  small,  consisting  of  about  thirty  members.  Through 
assistance  furnished  them  from  abroad,  they  had  built  a  good 
brick  house  of  worship.  Their  plea'  being  urgent,  I  felt  a  strong 
inclination  to  comply,  notwithstanding  I  was  under  engagements 
for  every  month  in  the  year,  except  the  month  of  August,  which 
I  had  reserved  for  rest.  But  as  I  must  go  then,  Or  not  at  all,  I 
concluded  to  trust  in  God  for ' strength,  ^and  to*comply  with  their 
request. 

Our  beginning  was  small,  and  for  a  long  time  the  prospects 
were  dark!  During  the  first  eight  days  we  did  not  hear  of  a 
single  conversion.  The  unconverted  began  to  rejoice  over  the 


82  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

certain  prospects  of  our  failure.  Nevertheless  the  congregations 
kept  on  increasing  daily,  until  the  house  was  too  strait  for  us. 
Soon  it  became  apparent  that  multitudes  were  under  conviction, 
and  conversions  followed  by  scores.  Many  of  all  classes  were 
brought  to  bow  at  the  Savior's  feet.  During  the  meeting, 
which  continued  five  weeks,  it  was  estimated,  after  careful 
inquiry,  that  about  four  hundred  souls  were  hopefully  converted 
to  Christ.  At  the  end  of  the  fourth  week,  I  baptized  fifty-three 
persons  ;  and  at  the  close  of  the  fifth  week,  there  were  baptized, 
by  the  pastor  and  myself,  sixty-five  more.  Brother  Ira  Bennett, 
the  pastor,  after  the  meetings  had  closed,  baptized  twenty-nine 
more,  making,  in  all,  an  addition  to  the  church  of  one  hundred 
and  forty-nine.  Besides  these,  many  of  those  who  were  con- 
verted joined  other  Baptist  churches  in  that  region,  while  a 
large  number  united  with  churches  of  other  denominations. 

Pennyan  was  the  seat  of  infidelity  for  that  entire  region,  and, 
as  might  be  expected,  I  soon  encountered  the  opposition  of 
persons  who  imbibed  such  sentiments.  My  life  was  fre- 
quently threatened,  and  I  learned,  after  the  danger  had  passed, 
that  a  drunken  Universalist,  armed  with  a  knife  and  pistol,  had 
sought  to  waylay  me  for  three  successive  nights ;  but  God  de- 
livered me  out  of  his  hands,  by  leading  me  to  go  to  my  lodgings 
by  a  different  route  each  night,  though,  at  the  time,  I  did  not 
recognize  any  particular  reason  for  doing  so. 

One  man,  a  hardened  and  abandoned  infidel,  left  the  meeting- 
house one  night  cursing  God,  and  swearing  that  he  would  have 
nothing  to  do  with  religion,  and  that  he  would  fetch  his  wife 
out,  if  he  had  to  go  through  hell  after  her.  Shortly  after  he 
had  reached  home  he  was  taken  ill.  His  skin  turned  as  yel- 
low as  saffron  ;  his  tongue  became  so  swollen  that  he  could  not 
speak  a  word,  nor  keep  it  within  his  mouth.  On  the  second 
day  after  he  was  seized,  he  died.  This  remarkable  event  seemed 
to  strike  terror  throughout  the  community.  Nearly  every  per- 
son accepted  it  as  a  judgment  from  God.  Consternation  spread 
through  the  ranks  of  infidelity,  and  many  of  its  open  advocates 
came  to  me,  pale  and  trembling,  begging  for  the  prayers  of 
Christians,  and  were  converted  to  God. 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  83 

One  incident,  illustrating  the  special  providence  of  God,  ought 
to  be  mentioned.  In  the  spring  previous  to  our  meeting,  an 
infidel,  from  the  State  of  Ohio,  came  along  in  the  character  of 
a  temperance  lecturer.  After  getting  possession  of  the  Baptist 
meetiug-house  for  the  purpose  of  advocating  the  cause  of 
temperance,  he  made  an  appointment  to  lecture  on  animal 
magnetism,  and  in  the  course  of  his  remarks  on  this  subject,  he 
took  occasion  to  assail  the  Christian  religion,  and  to  extol  the 
beauties  of  infidelity.  At  the  close  of  this  lecture  he  made 
another  appointment ;  but  on  going  to  the  house  the  next  even- 
ing, he  found  the  doors  locked  against  him.  The  infidels  of 
the  town  became  furious  ;  and  knowing  that  the  Baptists  were 
owing  three  thousand  dollars  on  their  house,  and  were  poor, 
they  vowed  that  they  would  buy  up  the  mortgage,  and  turn  the 
building  into  an  infidel  hall.  This  threat  awakened  the  sym- 
pathy and  zeal  of  the  Christians  of  other  denominations,  and 
they  stepped  forward  at  once  with  such  liberal  contributions, 
that  the  Baptist  church  was  enabled  to  free  itself  from  debt. 
In  order  to  do  this,  however,  notwithstanding  this  outside  help, 
nearly  every  male  member  of  the  Baptist  church  pledged  one 
half  of  all  he  was  worth  in  order  to  clear  the  indebtedness. 
The  protracted  meeting  followed,  truth  triumphed,  hundreds  of 
persons  were  converted,  and  infidelity  was  swept  by  the  board. 
Among  the  incidents  illustrating  the  manner  in  which  some 
persons  strove  against  the  Holy  Spirit,  I  recollect  the  instance 
of  a  young  lady,  who,  during  the  early  part  of  this  meeting, 
resorted  to  violent  measures  in  order  to  drive  away  the  convic- 
tions that  troubled  her.  She  was  a  person  of  considerable 
culture,  and  of  high  social  position.  At  first  she  declared  she 
would  not  attend  the  meetings  any  more  ;  yet  she  continued  to 
come,  but,  lest  she  should  be  recognized,  sought  to  disguise 
herself  in  the  clothing  of  one  of  the  servants  of  the  family.  As 
her  convictions  increased,  her  proud  heart  became  more  and 
more  rebellious,  and  she  determined  to  exhibit  her  unwilling- 
ness in  forms  of  decided  opposition.  On  one  occasion  she  told 
the  hired  man  to  array  the  horses  with  flowers  and  evergreens, 


84  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

and  taking  with  her  a  company  of  thoughtless  girls,  in  this 
style  she  rode  up  and  down  the  streets,  passing  the  church,  and 
waving  her  handkerchief  at  me  in  the  streets.  When  she  re- 
turned home,  she  found  the  servant  girl  reading  the  Bible,  and, 
snatching  it  from  her,  threw  it  with  violence  across  the  room, 
bidding  her  not  to  touch  it.  On  the  next  day,  as  she  was 
dusting  the  room,  her  eye  fell  on  the  book  as  it  lay  where  she 
had  flung  it,  and  in  her  rage  seized  the  broom,  and  struck  this 
precious  volume  as  it  lay  on  the  floor.  At  this  moment  a  re- 
action set  in,  and  unable  longer  to  resist  the  striving  of  God's 
grace,  she  was  at  length  constrained  to  yield  her  heart  to  Christ. 
Among  the  converts  at  this  meeting  in  Pennyan  were  two 
young  men,  who  afterwards  studied  for  the  ministry,  and 
became  successful  laborers  in  the  Savior's  vineyard.  One  of 
these  was  J.  B.  Tombes,  who  is  now  pastor  of  the  Baptist 
church  at  Carbondale,  Pa. ;  the  other  was  S.  M.  Bainbridge,  well 
known  in  Western  New  York,  who,  after  preaching  Christ  with 
great  success  for  nearly  thirty  years,  fell  asleep  in  Jesus, 
bequeathing  the  mantle  of  his  service  to  his  son,  who  has  re- 
cently been  ordained  pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  at  Erie,  Pa. 


ELDEE  JACOB   KNAPP.  85 


CHAPTER  X. 

ACCOUNTS  OF  PEOTEACTED  MEETINGS. 

(1838.) 

UTICA  :  Bethel  Church.  —  The  First  and  Second  Presbyterian 
Churches.  —  Conversions.  —  Baptist  Cause.  —  A  new  Church.  — 
Universalists.  —  SCHENECTADY  :  Union  of  Christians.  —  Union 
College.  —  Conversion  of  Students.  —  SENECA  FALLS  :  A  Re-con- 
version of  all  the  Churches.  —  BROOKLYN  :  Baptist  Cause  feeble.  — 
Pillars  in  the  Church.  —  John  N.  Wilder.  —  Conversion  of  an  Athe- 
ist. —  Sisterly  Remonstrance.  —  Deacon  Colgate.  —  General  Results. 

UTICA. 

A  LTHOUGH  there  had  been  much  prejudice  against  me  in  the 
.LA.  city  of  Utica,  I  was  at  length  invited  to  preach  in  this  place. 
I  began  in  the  Bethel  at  West  Utica.  It  was  a  small  building, 
capable  of  holding  about  four  hundred  persons.  I  commenced* 
in  February,  1838,  and  continued  preaching  night  and  day  for 
about  two  weeks,  during  which  time  there  were  some  con- 
versions ;  many  were  awakened,  and  Christians  were  aroused  to 
action. 

The  place  becoming  now  too  small  to  contain  the  crowds  that 
thronged  to  hear  the  word,  we  were  invited  to  the  Broad  Street 
Baptist  Church,  and  to  the  First  and  Second  Presbyterian 
Churches.  After  much  prayer  and  deliberation,  it  was  deter- 
mined to  take  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church.  This  selection 
was  made  because  of  its  central  location,  and  because  it  was  not 
so  large  as  to  make  a  fair-sized  congregation  seem  small.  But 
the  power  of  God  came  down,  and  the  house  was  immediately 
filled  to  its  utmost  capacity.  Salvation  rolled  on  like  a  mighty 
river. 


86  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

After  continuing  here  for  about  three  weeks,  it  was  found 
necessary  to  remove  to  the  house  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church.  This  vast  audience-room  was  thronged  every  night ; 
sometimes  every  inch  of  standing-room  was  occupied.  Here  I 
remained  two  weeks,  making  the  period  of  my  stay  in  Utica 
seven  weeks.  I  preached  one  and  twenty  sermons,  besides 
attending  prayer  and  inquiry  meetings. 

The  cases  of  pungent  conviction  were  so  numerous  that  we 
could  seldom  close  our  evening  services  before  eleven  o'clock, 
although  as  many  as  wished  to  retire  at  an  earlier  hour  were 
seasonably  dismissed.  Throughout  these  arduous,  constant, 
and  abundant  labors,  my  health  was  graciously  preserved.  At 
the  close  of  the  meeting,  all  who  had  experienced  a  hope  during 
the  revival  were  seated  in  a  body,  making  a  congregation  of 
nearly  eight  hundred  persons.  Nor  did  this  assembly  comprise 
all  who  had  been  led  to  the  Savior  during  the  meeting ;  many 
there  were  who  lived  in  the  surrounding  villages.  . 

Up  to  this  time  the  Baptist  cause  had  been  struggling  along, 
able  only,  with  difficulty,  to  maintain  an  existence.  I  had  fixed 
my  mind  on  the  formation  of  another  Baptist  church  from  the 
very  beginning  of  the  meeting ;  and  although  many  of  the 
"Baptists  opposed  the  measure,  yet  there  were  some  who  were 
willing  to  make  almost  any  sacrifice  to  accomplish  this  result, 
believing  it  would  be  for  the  glory  of  God. 

Accordingly,  towards  the  close  of  the  meeting,  these  brethren 
met  together,  invited  me  to  be  present,  adopted  articles  of  faith, 
and  took  all  other  steps  needful  for  their  organization  as  a 
church  of  Christ.  It  began  with  only  thirteen  constituent  mem- 
bers. I  then  baptized  into  their  fellowship  about  seventy  con- 
verts ;  and  in  about  eighteen  months'  time,  this  church  obtained 
a  commodious  house  of  worship,  and  have  continued  to  this  day 
a  blessing  and  a  glory. 

Among  the  converts  in  this  meeting  were  persons  of  all 
classes ;  many  of  them  were  merchants,  doctors,  lawyers, 
judges,  and  city  officials.  There  were  four  attorneys  who  pro- 
fessed conversion  in  a  single  day.  Many  of  the  experiences 


ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  87 

were  clear,  striking,  and  marvellous.  Religion  was  the  serious 
topic  of  conversation  in  the  market-places  and  along  the  streets. 
Hitherto  Universalism  had  held  a  strong  hold  in  Utica.  The 
sect  had  quite  an  influential  congregation,  a  good  meeting- 
house, and  an  able  paper,  edited  by  Rush  Skinner*,  a  man  of 
considerable  intellectual  power  and  notoriety.  I  undertook  to 
unmask  the  hypocrisy  and  expose  the  nakedness  of  the  system. 
Shortly  after  this  revival,  the  Universalists  sold  their  meeting- 
house, and  Skinner  left  the  city.  They  have  not  been  able  to 
accomplish  much  since. 

SCHENECTADT. 

In  the  month  of  June,  1838,  I  was  called  to  hold  a  meeting 
of  days  in  Schenectady,  N.  Y.  I  began  preaching  in  the 
Baptist  meeting-house,  but  very  soon  the  throng  so  greatly 
exceeded  its  capacity,  that  I  removed  to  the  Presbyterian  Church 
edifice.  Throughout  the  session  of  this  meeting  there  prevailed 
a  remarkable  union  of  feeling  and  action  between  Christians  of 
all  denominations.  Baptists  and  Presbyterians,  Dutch  Reformed 
and  Methodists,  and  also  Episcopalians,  became  deeply  inter- 
ested. Dr.  Nott.  and  all  the  Faculty  of  Union  College,  were 
constantly  in  attendance  and  actively  engaged.  The  Lord  was 
pleased  to  bless  his  truth,  not  only  to  the  salvation  of  many  of 
the  citizens,  but  also  to  the  hopeful  conversion  of  about  eighty 
of  the  students,  many  of  whom  have  since  "  addicted  themselves 
to  the  ministry  "  in  different  denominations. 

There  were  thought  to  have  been  between  three  hundred  and 
four  hundred  instances  of  conversion,  during  this  meeting ;  and 
though  the  Baptist  church  was  destitute  of  a  pastor,  yet  about 
fifty  persons  Avere  baptized  into  its  fellowship.  This  meeting 
continued  about  four  weeks. 

By  this  time  my  throat  became  so  seriously  affected  that  I 
was  advised  by  several  physicians  to  abstain  from  public  speak- 
ing. But  the  calls  for  help  were  so  numerous  and  so  pressing 
that  I  could  not  see  any  stopping-place.  I  therefore  continued 
011  preaching  day  and  night,  that  is,  fifteen  sermons  per  week, 


88  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

until  by  praying,  preaching,  and  drinking  freely  of  cold  water, 
my  complaint  was  broken  up. 

SENECA  FALLS. 

After  this  I  attended  meetings  in  Clinton,  Fay^tteville,  Elmira 
and  Seneca  Falls,  in  all  of  which  I  was  greatly  blessed  in  see- 
ing many  sinners  turning  to  God.  The  meeting  in  the  last- 
named  place  was  especially  fruitful  in  bringing  about  a  new  era 
of  religious  feeling  in  the  village.  Up  to  this  time  the  churches 
were  comparatively  feeble  and  inefficient.  Infidelity  was  stalk- 
ing unblushingly  through  the  streets.  Its  corrupting,  blighting, 
and  damning  influence  was  felt  throughout  the  entire  vicinity. 
This  meeting  was  blessed  to  the  re-conversion  of  the  churches, 
the  arresting  of  the  tide  of  infidelity,  and  the  immediate  salva- 
tion of  many  souls.  More  than  one  hundred  were  added  to  the 
Baptist  church,  and  a  considerable  number  to  other  churches. 

BROOKLYN. 

I  commenced  a  meeting  of  days  in  the  city  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y., 
in  connection  with  the  First  Baptist  Church,  on  the  first  day 
of  December,  1838.  The  Baptist  interest  in  Brooklyn  was  at 
that  time  quite  feeble.  The  meeting-house  was  not  more  than 
half  filled  by  its  ordinary  congregation.  Shortly  after  I  had 
commenced  preaching,  the  congregation  greatly  increased,  the 
members  of  the  church  took  hold  with  great  zeal,  backsliders 
were  reclaimed,  and  converts  were  greatly  multiplied.  It  pleased 
the  Lord  to  cause  the  truth  to  take  hold  of  the  consciences  of 
several  men  of  wealth  and  influence,  and  several  of  this  class 
were  converted.  Still  the  city  was  not  at  first  moved  to  any 
remarkable  extent,  nor  was  the  house  filled  until  I  had  preached 
nearly  four  weeks. 

By  this  time,  however,  the  work  of  the  Lord  had  not  only 
extended  throughout  the  city,  but  began  to  be  powerfully  felt 
among  the  churches  in  the  city  of  New  York.  During  this  meet- 
ing I  baptized,  in  connection  with  the  pastor,  Rev.  S.  Illsley,  two 
hundred  and  ten  persons,  and  subsequently  brother  Illsley  bap- 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  89 

tized  one  hundred  more,  as  the  fruit  of  this  effort.  The  meet- 
ing continued  seven  weeks,  and  I  preached  one  hundred  sermons. 

Since  that  time  this  church  has  had  an  eventful  history.  As 
the  city  has  extended  its  boundaries,  many  have  gone  from  this 
church  to  assist  in  forming  other  Baptist  churches.  At  times 
it  has  been  in  this  way  greatly  reduced  in  numbers  and  deprived 
of  its  strength  ;  but  in  its  darkest  hours  there  have  been  a  few 
faithful  onesji.  who  held  on  to  the  ship,  until  now  she  again 
occupies  a  position  of  great  prominence  in  the  religious  agencies 
of  Brooklyn.  And  the  few  to  whose  untiring  and  self-sacri- 
ficing zeal  the  maintenance  of  the  church  is  to  be,  under  God, 
ascribed,  were  for  the  most  part  brought  in  during  this  revival. 

Among  the  interesting  incidents  that  were  crowded  into  this 
meeting,  I  will  mention  a  few. 

A  Mrs.  Wilder  and  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Smith,  requested 
prayers  for  their  son  and  brother,  John  N.  Wilder.  He  was  a 
gay  and  worldly  young  man,  boarding  at  the  time  at  a  hotel  in 
the  city  of  Albany,  and  had  just  fallen  heir  to  a,  fortune  reputed 
to  be  worth  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dollars.  This 
devoted  mother  and  sister,  believing  that  God  heard  the  prayers 
of  his  people,  preferred  their  request  that  the  Christians 
in  Brooklyn  would  pray  that  he  might  be  speedily  con- 
verted. Day  after  day  would  this  request  be  made,  and  as 
often  was  it  remembered  in  our  petitions  to  the  throne  of 
grace.  In  the  mean  time  his  mother  and  sister  were  writing 
him  letters  full  of  earnest  entreaty.  Though  there  was  no 
religious  interest  in  Albany,  this  young  man  soon  began  to  feel 
the  influence  of  the  special  strivings  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  He 
struggled  to  dissipate  the  feelings  that  were  overpowering  him. 
He  took  a  trip  to  Providence  and  mingled  in  gay  society,  and 
afterwards  took  the  stage  to  Rochester  ;  but  all  this  while  prayer 
was  going  up  in  his  behalf,  and  still  his  soul  was  troubled.  His 
sins  were  ever  before  him,  and  he  found  no  rest.  Returning  to 
Albany,  he  called  first  on  Dr.  Sprague,  and  then  on  Dr.  Welch, 
and  by  these  servants  of  Christ  he  was  led  to  see  his  lost  con- 
dition, and  to  put  his  trust  in  the  righteousness  of  the  Savior. 
8 


90  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

He  united  with  the  Baptist  church,  and  devoted  himself  and  his 
wealth  to  the  service  of  Him  who  had  redeemed  him.  Shortly 
afterwards  he  gave  me  one  thousand  dollars  for  Madison  Uni- 
versity. He  identified  himself  with  the  various  denominational 
enterprises,  and  was  specially  active  in  promoting  the  founding 
of  Rochester  University,  subscribing  ten  thousand  dollars  towards 
its  endowment.  A  few  years  since,  he  died,  quite  suddenly, 
widely  known  and  highly  esteemed  as  a  zealous  laborer  in  the 
vineyard  of  the  Lord. 

I  remember  a  striking  instance  of  the  power  of  God  in  the 
conversion  of  an  avowed  atheist.  He  came  to  the  meeting  to 
hear  me  preach  on  atheism.  In  the  course  of  my  sermon,  I 
remarked  that  "  atheism  was  the  little  end  of  nothing  whittled 
to  a  point.  Since  the  atheist  denied  everything  and  admitted 
nothing,  it  was  itself  the  little  end  of  nothing."  This  remark  ar- 
rested his  attention  and  mortified  his  pride.  He  had  regarded 
himself  as  specially  intellectual,  and  capable  of  refuting  all  the 
ministers  in  the  land.  He  could  not  brook  the  thought  that  he, 
a  free-thinker,  should  be  represented  as  a  fool,  and  his  creed 
reduced  to  less  than  nothing.  So,  in  order  to  be  revenged,  he 
requested  a  Christian  neighbor  to  ask  prayers  for  the  little  end 
of  nothing.  The  request  was  complied  with  ;  nor  was  it  over- 
looked amid  the  multiplicity  of  claims  upon  our  prayers. 

On  the  evening  of  the  third  day,  as  we  repaired  to  the  lec- 
ture-room for  the  purpose  of  spending  a  season  in  prayer,  who 
should  rise  up  but  this  infidel?  Pale  and  haggard,  not  having 
slept  for  three  nights,  and  borne  down  by  deep  despair,  he  broke 
the  silence  of  the  spell-bound  congregation  by  saying,  "  My 
fellow-citizens,  you  see  before  you  the  greatest  sinner  which 
God  ever  suffered  to  live.  I  have  denied  the  existence  of  my 
Creator.  I  have  ridiculed  his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  calling  him  a 
bastard.  I  have  studied  the  word  of  God  in  order  to  pick  flaws 
and  make  out  contradictions.  I  have  cursed  my  Maker  more 
times  than  there  are  hairs  on  my  head ;  and  as  for  you 
Christians,  there  has  been  nothing  too  bad  for  me  to  say  about 
you  ;  and  all  I  ask  in  return  is,  that  you  will  not  treat  me  as  I 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  91 

have  treated  you."  He  took  bis  seat.  I  said  to  him,  "  My 
dear  sir,  do  you  not  wish  the  prayers  of  God's  people  ?  "  He 
answered,  "  No.  Prayer  can  do  me  no  good  ;  I  must  be  lost." 
I  told  him,  "  God  is  merciful ;  Christ  has  died  to  save  the 
chief  of  sinners."  He  replied,  "  I  know  that ;  and  this  knowl- 
edge will  be  the  keenest  part  of  my  sufferings.  I  have  sinned 
against  infinite  goodness  and  unparalleled  mercy.  J  deserve  to 
le  damned,  and  I  must  be  damned.  All  directions  to  Christ  as 
a  Savior  avail  nothing.  I  have  not  made  the  first  attempt 
at  prayer,  under  the  full  conviction  that  prayer  will  do  no 
good." 

He  passed  another  sleepless  night,  walking  his  floor,  and  con- 
templating his  fearful  doom.  To  him  it  was  a  night  of  terrors. 
But  just  as  the  gray  of  the  morning  began  to  dawn,  some 
mysterious  agency  whispered  in  his  ear,  "  Whosoever  will,  let 
him  come  and  take  of  the  waters  of  life  freely."  For  the  first 
time  in  his  life  he  dropped  on  his  knees,  and  pleaded  for  mercy 
through  Jesus  Christ.  In  a  few  moments  his  load  was  gone, 
and  his  soul  felt  the  peace  of  believing,  and  unspeakable  joy 
beamed  in  his  face.  He  rose  from  his  knees,  clapped  his  hands, 
and  shouted,  "  Glory,  glory  to  God ! "  and  but  for  the  fear  of 
making  his  neighbors  think  he  was  crazy,  he  said  he  should 
have  sung  out  at  the  top  of  his  voice. 

Much  complaint  in  those  days  was  made  because  I  ventured 
to  cross  the  ancient  landmarks,  and  got  betimes  out  of  the  old 
ruts.  I  sometimes  made  remarks  which  did  not  always  accord 
with  every  person's  notions  of  propriety.  Such  expressions  as 
the  one  just  named,  which  arrested  the  attention  of  the  atheist, 
were  deemed  highly  objectionable.  In  consequence  of  this  feel- 
ing, early  in  this  meeting  a  couple  of  well-meaning  sisters,  find- 
ing themselves  tried  with  my  course  in  this  regard,  and  thinking 
such  expressions  calculated  to  do  much  harm,  came  to  me  one 
day  in  the  spirit  of  remonstrance.  They  assured  me  —  and  I  be- 
lieved them  —  that  they  were  not  of  those  who  peddle  for  the 
devil,  talking  against  ministers  and  their  measures  behind  their 
backs.  They  opened  their  minds  freely  to  me,  and  to  me  only. 


92  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

I  listened  patiently,  and  thanked  them  for  their  good  intentions, 
but  told  them  that  if  they  would  keep  on  doing  their  duty,  and 
working  for  souls,  they  would  find  out,  before  the  meetings 
closed,  that  I  understood  what  was  the  best  way  in  which  I 
could  work  for  the  Master.  After  two  weeks  they  came  to  me 
again,  and  candidly  acknowledged  that  the  very  things  to  which 
they  took  exceptions  had  "  fallen  out  for  the  furtherance  of  the 
gospel,"  and  that  this  would  be  the  last  time  in  which  they 
would  undertake  to  dictate  to  a  minister  who  was  zealously  and 
successfully  laboring  for  souls. 

During  this  meeting  the  wife  of  the  lamented  Deacon  "William 
Colgate  attended  quite  constantly,  crossing  the  ferry  from  New 
York  back  and  forth  in  the  cold  and  piercing  winds.  Her  soul 
became  especially  concerned  for  the  conversion  of  her  children, 
and  before  the  effort  closed,  some  of  them  were  brought  to 
Christ.  Thus  was  opened  the  way  for  the  great  meeting  in  the 
Baptist  Tabernacle  in  1840,  where  the  rest  of  her  children  found 
the  Savior.  On  one  morning  the  deacon  requested  me  to  go 
and  see  his  eldest  son.  I  found  him  trembling  under  a  sense 
of  his  sinfulness.  He  told  me  that  he  could  withstand  anything 
but  his  father's  prayers  and  tears.  Before  that  day  closed  he 
yielded  his  heart  to  Jesus,  and  found  peace  and  joy. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  trace  all  the  results  of  this  meeting. 
When  it  commenced  the  Baptist  cause  was  weak  and  small ; 
and  it  is  not  too  much  to  claim  that  from  this  meeting  sprang 
directly  those  agencies  which  contributed  to  the  enlargement  of 
Baptist  influence,  and  the  multiplication  of  Baptist  churches  in 
Brooklyn.  Men  of  business,  and  wealth,  and  culture  were 
brought  into  the  fold,  besides  a  host  of  young  persons,  who 
have  since  become  pillars  in  different  churches.  The  work  ex- 
tended through  the  city,  entered  the  navy-yard,  and  rolled  over 
into  the  city  of  New  York.  Brother  Illsley,  the  pastor,  labored 
to  the  last  extent  of  his  ability,  and  was  a  "  true  yoke-fellow." 
Deacons  Corning  and  Lewis,  and,  I  believe,  all  who  then  were 
deacons  in  the  church,  have  long  since  crossed  over  Jordan, 
and  the  remembrance  of  their  earnest  and  untiring  cooperation 


ELDER    JACOB    KNAPP.  93 

is  among  my  sweetest  recollections.  Never  before,  nor  since, 
have  I  passed  such  a  night  as  that  in  which  I  preached  my 
farewell  sermon  to  this  people.  It  was  a  night  made  sleepless  by 
reason  of  the  ecstasy  of  my  soul.  It  is  not  enough  to  say,  that 
it  was  to  me  "  the  gate  of  heaven,"  for  I  seemed  to  have  passed 
its  threshold,  and  entered  into  the  fulness  of  the  glory  that  shall 
be  revealed. 


94  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 


CHAPTER    XI. 

ACCOUNTS    OF    PROTRACTED    MEETINGS. 

(CONTINUED.) 

ROCHESTER  :  Gamblers.  —  The  Mob.  —  Arrest.  —  Councils  of  the 
Wicked  brought  to  Nought.  —  BALTIMORE  :  General  Interest.  — 
Church  strengthened.  —  Washingtonian  Temperance  Movement.  — 
Threatenings.  • —  A  later  Meeting.  —  Letter  from  Dr.  Fuller. 

ROCHESTER. 

rpO  WARDS  the  close  of  the  month  of  January,  1839,  I  com- 
JL  menced  a  meeting  with  the  First  Baptist  church  in  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  under  the  pastoral  charge  of  Pharcellus  Church.  Many 
of  the  saints  of  different  denominations  soon  became  interested 
in  the  work,  and  continued  to  lift  up  united  supplications  to  God 
for  a  plentiful  outpouring  of  his  Spirit.  Salvation  began  to 
flow.  The  house  soon  became  too  small  for  the  congregations, 
and  hundreds  went  away,  night  after  night,  unable  to  gain 
admittance.  After  hundreds  had  been  converted,  the  Lord  was 
pleased  to  break  into  the  ranks  of  a  gambling  club,  which  held 
its  rendezvous  at  one  of  the  hotels  of  the  city.  They  gambled 
night  and  day,  and  throughout  the  Sabbath.  They  practised 
deception  in  their  games,  and  were  banded  together  to  decoy  the 
unwary  and  fleece  the  inexperienced.  They  not  unfrequently 
took  as  much  as  three  thousand  dollars  in  one  night.  A  horde 
of  lewd  women  was  kept  at  this  house,  who  were  supported  by 
this  gambling  fraternity.  Young  men  by  scores  were  being 
drawn  into  this  whirlpool  of  destruction,  and  ruined  in  health, 
in  pocket,  in  reputation,  and  in  morals  —  ruined  for  time  and 
eternity. 

One  or  two  of  this  company  were  converted,  who  felt  it  to  be 
their  duty  to  expose  the  secret  machinations  of  this  club  (for 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  95 

their  abominations  were  not  generally  known,  as  they  occupied 
a  dark  room  with  double  partitions) .  I  considered  it  to  be  my 
duty  to  make  known  to  the  public  the  facts  which  had  been  dis- 
closed to  me.  Accordingly,  I  gave  notice  to  that  effect.  At 
the  appointed  time  the  whole  city  seemed  to  have  gathered 
together.  Thousands  collected  who  could  not  enter  the  meet- 
ing-house. Most  of  the  leading  gamblers  managed,  however, 
to  get  in,  having  previously  arranged,  in  case  any  secret  was 
likely  to  be  disclosed,  to  break  out  in  open  contradictions  and 
blaspheming,  until  they  should  drown  the  voice  of  the  speaker, 
and  disperse  the  meeting.  Prayer-meetings  were  appointed  at 
different  places,  to  be  held  at  the  same  time,  and  earnest  sup- 
plications went  up  to  God  from  many  believing  hearts. 

My  text  was,  "'The  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil." 
"When  I  came  to  speak  on  the  subject  of  gambling,  and  began 
to  make  some  disclosures  of  the  diabolical  schemes  of  this  soul- 
destroying  business,  one  of  the  leading  gamblers  rose  up,  and, 
in  distinct  tones,  exclaimed,  "  That  is  a  d — d  lie."  I  immedi- 
ately replied,  "  If  you  had  kept  still,  sir,  we  should  not  have 
known  that  you  belonged  to  the  gang ;  a  hit  bird  always  flat- 
ters !  "  A  gentleman,  well  known  in  the  community,  mentioned 
the  name  of  the  gambler  so  audibly  as  to  be  heard  by  the  entire 
congregation.  All  eyes  were  fixed  upon  him.  One  of  his  com- 
panions, sitting  by  his  side,  began  to  pull  his  cloak,  saying,  in  a 
low  tone,  "  Sit  down  I  sit  down!"  He  sat  down  in  the  midst 
of  a  profound  silence,  and  covering  his  head  with  his  cloak, 
raised  it  no  more  until  the  service  was  closed. 

I  continued  my  sermon,  and,  with  still  greater  pointedness 
and  force,  exposed  the  enormity  of  this  enterprise,  and  poured 
forth  the  awful  threatenings  of  Jehovah  against  evil  doers.  A 
few  evenings  afterwards,  notices  were  placarded  in  all  the  pub- 
lic places,  and  on  the  corners  of  the  streets,  calling  a  meeting, 
to  be  held  on  a  certain  evening,  in  front  of  the  Baptist  church, 
for  the  purpose  of  considering  the  expediency  of  restraining  "  a 
certain  Mr.  Knapp."  "  All  the  friends  of  order  are  invited 
to  be  present."  Evidently  it  was  the  design  of  the  originators 


96  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

of  this  call  to  get  together  a  lot  of  people  of  "  the  baser  sort," 
for  the  purpose  of  creating  a  riot.  No  arrangements  were 
made  by  the  children  of  God  to  prevent  it,  beyond  the  appoint- 
ment of  prayer-meetings  in  various  places.  The  evening 
arrived  ;  the  meeting-house  was  crowded  to  suffocation.  From 
the  basement  earnest  prayers  were  offered  untovGod,  and  from 
the  pulpit  his  word  was  preached  to  a  solemn  and  deeply- 
affected  congregation. 

In  the  mean  time,  a  crowd  of  about  a  thousand  men  had 
gathered  around  the  building  in  separate  groups.  One  company 
was  stationed  in  a  back  yard,  armed  with  stones.  At  three 
minutes  before  eight  o'clock,  a  stone  came  whizzing  through 
the  window  towards  the  pulpit.  Simultaneously  with  its  pas- 
sage came  a  flash  of  lightning,  followed  by  a  peal  of  thunder 
(this  was  in  the  month  of  February,  and  snow  was  on  the 
ground).  In  about  a  minute  afterwards,  another  stone  came 
through  the  window,  accompanied  by  another  flash  of  lightning, 
and  followed  by  a  still  louder  clap  of  thunder.  Scarcely  had 
another  minute  elapsed  before  another  stone  entered  the  build- 
ing, when  instantly  the  heavens  pealed  out  its  thunder  more 
terribly  than  before.  The  house  where  the  people  were  assembled 
was  shaken,  and  the  earth  trembled  beneath  their  feet.  Fear 
seized  hold  on  the  ungodly  crew,  and  dropping  their  missiles, 
they  hastened  from  the  spot,  as  if  they  would  hide  themselves 
from  the  presence  of  God,  lest  he  should  "  cut  them  off  with  a 
stroke." 

Shortly  after  I  had  retired  for  the  night,  the  house  of  Deacon 
Sage,  where  I  lodged,  was  assailed,  and  several  of  the  windows 
were  broken,  but  no  one  was  injured.  The  work  of  the  Lord 
went  on  with  increasing  power ;  and  though  the  ungodly  raged, 
their  counsels  came  to  nought.  A  writ  was  served  on  Deacon 
Sage  because  he  had  said  that  what  I  had  asserted  about  these 
gamblers  was  true. 

The  meeting  at  length  came  to  a  close,  and  I  supposed  that  I 
should  be  enabled  to  leave  the  city  without  annoyance.  A  large 
company  of  friends  had  gathered  at  the  house  of  Deacon  Sage, 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  97 

between  eight  and  nine  o'clock,  for  the  purpose  of  spending  a 
season  in  farewell  exercises  of  singing  and  prayer.  Just  as 
myself  and  a  few  others,  who  were  to  accompany  me,  were 
about  to  enter  the  stage,  the  agent  called  to  inform  us  that 
arrangements  had  been  made  by  these  landsharks  to  insult  me 
as  I  passed  through  the  city.  It  appeared  that  it  had  been 
arranged  that  a  band  of  music  in  a  carriage,  drawn  by  six 
horses,  and  a  company  of  twenty  men,  headed  by  the  chief 
gambler  as  marshal,  who,  rigged  out  in  regimentals,  was  to  ride 
a  Avhite  horse,  should  follow  us  out  of  the  city  playing  and  sing- 
ing "  The  Rogue's  March "  as  a  special  compliment  to  me. 
They  were  already  assembled  in  the  yard  of  one  of  the  hotels 
by  which  we  were  to  pass  as  we  went  to  the  stage  office,  and 
on  a  given  signal  they  were  to  sally  forth. 

The  agent  offered  to  convey  us  in  a  private  wagon  some  ten 
or  twelve  miles  out  of  the  city,  but  after  a  moment's  reflection, 
I  told  the  company  that  I  would  not  leave  the  city  in  any 
evasive  manner ;  that  I  had  done  nothing  of  which  I  was 
ashamed,  and  that  if  these  wicked  men  saw  fit  to  sing  "  The 
Rogue's  March,"  we  would  sing  "  Old  Ship  Zion."  After  sing- 
ing and  praying,  and  many  tears,  we  entered  the  stage.  As 
we  came  round  the  corner  on  which  stood  the  Monroe  House, 
the  large  gate  was  thrown  wide  open,  and  forth  issued  the 
crowd  of  desperadoes,  striking  up  their  favorite  tune.  While 
pausing  in  front  of  the  stage  office,  a  fierce,  rough-looking  man 
stepped  up  to  the  stage,  and  asked  if  Mr.  Kuapp  was  inside. 
I  replied,  "  I  am  the  man."  He  then  ordered  me  to  get  out  of 
the  stage,  without  intimating  in  any  way  that  he  was  a  civil 
officer,  or  had  a  civil  process  to  serve  on  me.  I  gave  him  to 
understand  that  I  did  not  see  any  reason  why  I  should  comply 
with  his  request.  He  became  enraged,  and  his  gang,  rushing 
round  him,  cried,  "  Hustle  him  out." 

In  a  very  few  minutes  thousands  of  persons  had  gathered  to 
the  scene.  The  city  was  in  an  uproar.  Many  were  my  friends, 
while  others,  who  did  not  particularly  sympathize  with  me, 
were  indignant  at  this  great  outrage  against  public  order  and 


98  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

decency.  The  man  who  had  thus  accosted  me  became  furlong 
at  my  resistance  and  the  remonstrances  of  the  citizens,  and 
putting  one  foot  on  the  step  and  the  other  on  the  hind  wheel  of 
the  stage,  reached  into  the  coach,  and  seizing  me  by  the  throat, 
attempted  to  drag  me  out.  At  this  demonstration  the  uproar 
beqame  indescribable.  Some  encouraged  him  in  his  violence, 
and  some  denounced  him,  while  a  company  of  pious  women 
called  for  a  room  in  the  hotel,  and  fell  on  their  knees  in  prayer 
to  God. 

At  length  some  one  informed  me  that  my  assailant  was  the 
deputy  sheriff.  I  thereupon  informed  him  that  I  knew  not  that 
he  was  a  civil  officer,  and  that  if  he  would  stand  back  and 
behave  himself  like  a  man,  I  would  get  out  of  the  stage  and  go 
with  him.  He  stepped  back,  and,  getting  out,  I  took  his  arm 
and  walked  with  him  to  his  office.  The  crowd  rushed  along 
with  us,  some  before  and  some  behind,  some  weeping  and  some 
cursing,  and  some  praying.  On  our  way  I  took  occasion  to 
warn  the  sheriff  of  the  value  of  his  soul,  and  entreated  him  to 
be  prepared  for  the  summons  which  would  soon  call  him  before 
the  judgment  seat  of  Christ.  When  we  had  reached  the  office, 
I  suggested  that  before  "we  proceed  any  further  I  thought  we 
had  better  spend  a  season  in  prayer.  I  fell  on  my  knees,  and 
poured  out  my  soul  to  God  for  this  man  and  all  his  company. 
The  room  was  full  of  people ;  some  remained  standing,  some 
knelt ;  all  were  silent  and  solemn  as  eternity. 

After  serving  the  process  upon  me,  Deacon  Sage  and  Mr. 
Smith  (the  mayor  of  the  city)  stepped  forward  and  became 
bail  for  my  appearance  at  court.  By  this  time  the  indignation 
of  the  people  had  become  so  intense,  that  the  owner  of  the 
horses  returned  them  to  the  stable,  and  thus  the  company  was 
broken  up.  I  went  back  to  the  stage,  and  started  quietly  on  my 
way,  counting  it  all  joy  that  I  was  thought  worthy  to  suffer  for 
the  name  of  Christ.  In  all  this  scene  of  uproar  and  confusion 
I  felt  calm,  and  enjoyed  a  sweet  sense  of  the  presence  of  God. 
I  was  excited  only  by  a  feeling  of  tender  compassion  for  the 
poor  deluded  men  who  had  sold  themselves  to  the  service  of 
Satan. 


ELDEU  JACOB  KNAPP.  99 

In  the  October  following,  when  my  case  was  to  be  tried,  I 
had  an  engagement  to  attend  a  meeting  in  Baltimore.  Some 
thought  I  ought  to  meet  my  appointment,  and  some  thought  I 
ought  to  meet  the  suit ;  but  after  praying  over  the  matter,  I 
concluded  to  leave  the  suit  in  the  hands  of  the  Lord,  and  to  pro- 
ceed on  my  Master's  business.  Accordingly,  I  went  to  Balti- 
more ;  and  when  it  became  known  that  I  might  not  attend  the 
trial,  my  persecutors  boasted  great  things,  and  entered  into 
secret  combination  to  suborn  testimony  against  me.  Before, 
however,  the  case  came  up,  the  judge  was  taken  sick,  and  ad- 
journed the  court ;  and  before  the  next  court  sat,  the  plaintiff 
was  laid  on  a  bed  of  sickness.  Death  stared  him  in  the  face ; 
his  conscience  became  troubled,  and  sending  for  Deacon  Sage, 
he  confessed  that  my  statements  were  true,  and  that  the  half  had 
not  been  told.  About  this  time  another  of  the  company  died  an 
awful  death.  The  suit  went  by  default,  this  company  of  gam- 
blers was  broken  up,  and  many  of  its  members  left  the  city. 

BALTIMORE. 

The  meeting  in  Baltimore  was  commenced  on  the  3d  day 
of  October,  1839,  in  the  Sharp  Street  Baptist  church,  under  the 
pastoral  care  of  S.  P.  Hill.  The  number  then  professing  the 
Baptist  faith  in  this  city  was  small.  Indeed,  throughout  the 
State  of  Maryland,  Baptists  were  very  few  and  feeble.  The 
blighting  curse  of  Antinomianism  had  well  nigh  effaced  the 
visibility  of  the  Baptist  name.  The  meeting  had  not  been  held 
many  days  before  the  tokens  of  God's  favor  became  manifest ; 
still  the  interest  did  not  rise  very  high  until  about  the  third 
week.  By  this  time,  the  waves  of  salvation  began  to  sweep 
with  power  along  the  tracks  of  the  high  and  the  low.  During 
seven  weeks  I  preached  two  sermons  every  week  day,  and  three 
times  on  the  Sabbath,  and  attended  a  prayer  and  inquiry  meet- 
ing in  the  morning  and  evening  of  each  day. 

The  influence  of  this  meeting  was  not  confined  to  the  city  of 
Baltimore.  A  new  impulse  was  given  to  the  Baptist  denomina- 
tion throughout  the  entire  state  ;  so  much  so,  that,  according  to 


100  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

the  statistics  reported  at  the  next  association,  the  number  of 
Baptists  in  the  state  had  been  doubled.  Revivals  broke  out  in 
all  parts  of  the  surrounding  country,  and  the  tide  of  religious 
feeling  swept  on  even  to  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  where,  as  I  was  after- 
wards informed  by  letter,  more  than  three  hundred  souls  were 
converted  through  agencies  that  had  originated  in  this  meeting 
in  Baltimore. 

The  Baptist  church  in  Sharp  Street,  at  the  commencement  of 
the  revival,  was  in  debt  for  their  house  of  worship  to  the 
amount  of  twenty  thousand  dollars ;  but  very  soon  after  the 
meeting  closed,  such  had  been  the  strength  of  their  increase, 
that  the  indebtedness  was  at  once  removed,  the  edifice  improved, 
and  for  several  years  afterwards  the  contributions  of  the  church, 
for  benevolent  purposes,  averaged  over  ten  thousand  dollars  per 
annum. 

While  in  Baltimore  I  was  invited  to  address  the  Young 
Men's  City  Temperance  Society.  The  lower  part  of  the  church 
K'as  crowded  with  men,  and  the  galleries  with  ladies.  In  the 
audience  was  a  liquor  dealer,  who  had  come  into  the  city  for  the 
purpose  of  renewing  his  stock.  He  had  purchased  his  supplies, 
and  his  wagons  were  loaded  ready  for  a  start  on  the  ensuing 
morning.  As  he  listened  to  my  discourse,  the  awful  character 
of  the  business  in  which  he  was  engaged  was  so  profoundly 
impressed  on  his  conscience,  that  he  returned  the  purchases  he 
had  made,  sent  his  teams  back  empty,  and  resolved  henceforth 
never  to  traffic  in  this  business,  so  destructive  of  the  well-being 
of  his  fellow-men  for  this  world  and  the  next. 

Another  very  peculiar  providence  of  God  occurred  during  this 
meeting,  illustrating  the  way  in  which  God  can  make  the  wrath 
of  man  to  praise  him.  During  the  progress  of  the  revival, 
several  well-known  drunkards  had  been  converted.  This  fact 
had  enraged  the  rum-sellers.  On  the  evening  in  which  I 
preached  on  temperance,  two  men,  named  Mitchel  and  Hawkins, 
together  with  other  hard  drinkers,  were  present.  From  the 
church  they  went  to  a  grog-shop,  whose  proprietor  began  to 
indulge  in  outbursts  of  rage  and  cursing  against  me  and  my 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  101 

preaching.  After  a  while  Mitchel  got  up,  and  declared  that  he 
would  not  hear  Mr.  Knapp  abused  any  longer  ;  that  he  believed 
he  was  doing  a  great  deal  of  good  in  the  city ;  and  turning 
towards  the  rum-seller,  he  remarked,  "  If  you  keep  up  this  abuse 
any  longer,  I  will  never  drink  another  drop  in  your  house,  nor 
anywhere  else,  as  long  as  my  name  is  Mitchel."  But  the  enraged 
proprietor  continued  to  deal  out  his  anathemas ;  whereupon 
Mitchel,  true  to  his  word,  then  and  there  solemnly  pledged  him- 
self to  absolute  and  total  abstinence  thenceforth  through  life. 
Hawkins  and  others  joined  with  him  in  the  pledge.  This  was 
the  origin  of  the  Washingtonian  temperance  movement,  which 
swept  over  the  country  with  such  wonderful  power,  and  by 
which  tens  of  thousands  of  drunkards  were  reformed,  and 
thousands  of  families  were  made  happy  for  this  life  and  the  life 
to  come.  To  God  be  all  the  glory  ! 

Throughout  this  revival  my  whole  soul  and  my  entire  time 
were  absorbed,  yea,  wholly  engrossed,  in  my  work.  I  had  but 
little  assistance.  Brother  Hill,  the  pastor,  labored  as  exhaus- 
tively as  his  enfeebled  health  would  permit ;  and  besides  him 
there  were  only  four  brethren  who  engaged  heartily  and  effi- 
ciently in  the  movement.  One  of  these  passed  to  his  rest  while 
in  the  midst  of  his  toil.  But  "  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  God  was 
upon  me,"  and  he  made  my  strength  equal  to  my  day.  My 
mind  was  fruitful,  my  health  was  perfect,  the  weather  was 
favorable  for  the  assembling  of  congregations,  and  the  g  )spcl 
was  "  as  a  fire  shut  up  in  my  bones."  Never  before  did  I  so 
fully  understand  the  words  of  the  Psalmist,  "  By  thee  I  have 
run  through  a  troop,  and  by  my  God  have  I  leaped  over  a  v.  all." 
After  laboring  incessantly  from  early  dawn  till  nearly  midright, 
when  my  day's  work  was  finished,  and  my  responsibility  was 
rolled  off  from  me  for  the  time  being,  I  would  feel  as  light  as  a 
feather  and  as  nimble  as  a  deer.  In  fact  I  had  to  restrain  my- 
self, lest  people  should  fail  to  understand  the  spirit  that  moved 
me,  as  the  daughter  of  Saul  failed  to  understand  David,  when  he 
leaped  and  danced  before  the  ark  of  the  Lord. 

After  I  had  been  preaching  for  some  time  in  the  city,  anl  the 


102  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

entire  people  had  been  moved  by  the  power  of  the  truth,  I  began 
to  throw  out  allusions  to  the  subject  of  slavery.  The  public 
mind  grew  uneasy  and  feverish.  One  day  a  number  of  gentle- 
men called  at  my  boarding-place  in  my  absence,  and  inquired 
of  the  lady  of  the  house,  whether  I  was  not  "  a  downright 
red-hot  abolitionist  from  New  England."  She  told  them  that 
she  presumed  that  Mr.  Knapp  was  opposed  to  slavery,  but  was 
not  of  that  kind  of  abolitionists  who  would  advise  the  slaves  to 
rise  and  cut  the  throats  of  their  masters. 

On  going  to  the  church  that  evening,  I  found  the  house 
crowded  at  an  early  hour,  and  the  yard  and  street  filled  with  an 
excited  people.  As  I  was  about  to  ascend  the  pulpit  stairs,  a 
good  and  influential  brother  took  me  by  the  arm,  and  asked  me 
if  I  could  not  satisfy  mjt  conscience  by  passing  the  subject  of 
slavery  in  silence,  adding  that  there  was  much  feeling  on  that 
subject  in  the  community.  I  told  him  that  I  thought  not.  It 
was  a  warm  night  for  the  month  of  October ;  the  windows  were 
all  up,  and  the  mob  was  staring  with  piercing  eyes  on  the 
pulpit.  A  number  of  ministers  were  in  the  pulpit  when  I 
entered  it ;  and  two  of  them  were  skulking  down  behind  the  desk, 
lest  they  should  be  hurt  by  any  missiles  that  might  be  sent  at 
me.  I  gave  one  of  them  a  jog,  and  told  him  to  sit  up,  for  he  had 
not  religion  enough  to  make  him  worthy  of  martyrdom  yet ; 
and  then,  turning  to  the  mob,  told  them  that  when  I  entered  the 
ministry  I  pledged  myself  solemnly  to  preach  up  Christ  and 
preach  down  the  devil ;  to  bear  testimony  against  all  evil  in 
everybody,  and  without  respect  of  persons ;  and  that  I  should 
do  my  duty  if  I  knew  they  would  kill  me  before  I  left  the  pul- 
pit, and  cut  me  into  inch  pieces,  and  roast  every  piece  on  a  red- 
hot  gridiron  ;  and  then  I  informed  them  of  the  mob  which  their 
master  had  gotten  up  in  Rochester,  which  God  had  scattered  by 
sending  his  thunder  and  lightning.  They  all  quailed,  and, 
dropping  their  missiles,  heard  the  sermon  in  quietness,  and 
went  away  peaceably.  Had  I  taken  this  stand  at  the  beginning 
of  my  ministry  there,  they  would  have  driven  me  out  of  the 
city,  or  taken  my  life. 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  103 

In  the  winter  of  1857  I  was  called  to  Baltimore  again  to 
assist  Dr.  Fuller,  and  was  then  informed  that  about  ten  thou- 
sand souls  had  been  converted  as  the  direct  result  of  the  former 
revival ;  that  four  hundred  were  added  to  the  Sharp  Street 
Baptist  church,  and  that  five  Baptist  churches  sprang  from  this 
meeting ;  that  sixteen  hundred  were  united  to  the  Methodist 
churches  ;  that  hundreds  of  others  joined  the  Episcopalian  and 
Presbyterian  denominations.  In  fact  persons,  in  whose  judg- 
ment I  had  confidence,  assured  me  that  nearly  ten  thousand 
souls  were  supposed  to  have  been  converted  in  connection  with 
the  agencies  that  took  their  rise  from  this  revival. 

On  the  occasion  of  my  second  visit  in  1857,  my  success  was 
not  so  marked ;  nevertheless,  much  good  was  done.  Over  one 
hundred  and  fifty  persons  were  baptized  by  Dr.  Fuller  during 
the  two  months  that  I  was  there. 

At  this  point  it  may  be  interesting  to  insert  a  letter  from  Dr. 
Fuller,  in  which  he  kindly  refers  to  my  labors  in  Baltimore. 

"  BALTIMORE,  November  23,  1866. 
"  REV.  JACOB  KNAPP. 

"  My  dear  Brother :  I  was  in  South  Carolina  during  the 
period  of  the  blessed  work  of  God  in  1839  ;  but  some  of  the 
noblest  and  most  devoted  children  of  God  in  the  city,  I  know 
from  personal  intimacy  with  them,  were  brought  to  Christ  dur- 
ing that  revival. 

"  At  a  much  later  day  you  spent  some  weeks  here,  laboring 
with  the  church  of  which  I  am  pastor,  and  the  Lord  then  blessed 
your  work  and  labor  of  love  in  the  conversion  of  many  souls. 

"  I  found  great  spiritual  enjoyment  and  profit  from  my 
cooperation  with  you ;  and  all  the  church  loved  and  esteemed 
you  most  sincerely  for  your  earnest,  humble,  and  devoted  piety, 
and  for  your  unwearied  consecration  to  Jesus  and  his  precious 
truth. 

"  With  sincere  affection, 

"  Your  friend  and  brother  in  the  Lord  Jesus, 

"R.  FULLER." 


104  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 


CHAPTER    XII. 

ACCOUNTS    OF    PROTRACTED    MEETINGS. 
(CONTINUED.) 

ALBANY  :  Apprehensions.  —  Cooperation.  —  Instances  of  Conversion. 

—  Liberality  and  Revival.  —  A  Prodigal   Son.  —  A  Stranger.  — 
.    The  Shad  Story.  —  Preparation  of  the  Grounds.  —  State  Street 

Baptist   Church.  —  Unsuccessful  Pastorate.  —  NEW  YORK  CITY  : 
Baptist  Tabernacle.  —  A  Wonderful  Work.  —  A  Devoted  Merchant. 

—  New  York  Herald.  —  An  Infidel  converted.  —  A  Magdalene.  — 
The   Church    in  Perplexity. — Results.  —  Statement    of    W.    W. 
Everts.  —  HARTFORD  :    South  Baptist   Church.  —  A  candid    Uni- 
versalist.  —  The  Fiddler  at  a  Ball.  —  Zaccheus  at  a  Baptism.  — 
The  Infidel  Mocker.  —  The  Rum-seller   and    his  Victim.  —  NEW 
HAVEN  :   Union  Meetings.  —  Yale  College.  —  A  Gambling-house.  — 
Plots,  and   God's  Interpositions.  —  The  Billiard-room  Kcepei's.  — 
Students'  Ball.  —  Church  Caution.  —  Baptist  Progress. 

A  T  the  close  of  my  meeting  in  Baltimore,  I  commenced  one 
J\.  with  the  Pearl  Street  Baptist  church,  Albany,  N.  Y.,  then 
under  the  pastoral  care  of  Elder  B.  T.  Welch,  for  many  years 
acknowledged  as  preeminent  among  the  eloquent  preachers  of 
the  country.  The  policy  which  this  church  had  pursued  differed 
somewhat  from  mine.  It  had  placed  a  value  on  the  external  ap- 
pointments of  a  church,  which  I  did  not ;  and  I  therefore  had 
some  apprehensions  whether  my  plain,  outspoken  style  of 
presenting  the  truth  would  be  acceptable  to  such  a  congrega- 
tion. 

Very  soon,  however,  the  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God  was 
made  manifest,  and  the  brethren  entered  heartily  into  the  work. 
Brother  Welch  labored  with  all  the  enthusiasm  of  his  earnest 
nature ;  so  much  so,  that  sometimes  I  deemed  it  necessary  to 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  105 

restrain  him,  lest  he  should  overtask  his  strength.  Converts 
were  multiplied  rapidly ;  many  of  them  were  wealthy  and 
influential. 

Among  the  trophies  of  grace  then  gathered,  I  may  mention 
the  names  of  William  Newton,  James  Wilson,  Clark  Durant, 
Mrs.  Governor  Marcy  ;  and  though  the  governor  himself  did  not 
openly  profess  religion,  yet  I  have  learned  facts  which  satisfy 
me  that  he  was  deeply  impressed,  and,  I  hope,  really  brought  to 
experience  a  change  of  heart.  I  heard  that  on  one  occasion, 
while  in  a  large  company,  a  young  man  was  berating  me,  when 
Governor  Marcy  took  up  my  defence,  and,  rising  to  his  feet, 
repeated  the  substance  of  one  of  my  sermons  with  such  effect, 
that  the  tears  flowed  down  his  own  cheeks  and  the  cheeks  of 
many  of  his  hearers. 

As  near  as  I  can  ascertain,  about  fifteen  hundred  persons 
were  added  to  the  different  churches  of  the  city  as  the  result  of 
this  meeting. 

While  the  meeting  was  in  progress,  I  received  a  letter  from 
Dr.  Nathaniel  Kendrick,  askiug  me  to  raise  some  money  in  aid 
of  the  Institution  at  Hamilton.  I  devoted  a  part  of  one  after- 
noon to  this  object,  and  obtained  seven  thousand  dollars.  As 
an  evidence  of  the  relation  of  a  revival  to  liberality,  I  may  state 
that  I  called  on  seven  persons,  asked  each  for  one  thousand 
dollars,  and  was  not  refused  in  a  single  instance. 

On  one  occasion,  as  I  closed  my  sermon  on  "  The  Prodigal 
Son,"  a  well-known  lawyer,  Salem  D.,  arose,  faced  the  congre- 
gation, and  spoke  substantially  as  follows :  "  I  am  that  prodigal 
son.  I  have  spent  my  substance  in  riotous  living.  I  am  in 
want.  I  will  arise  and  go  to  my  Father — -not  next  week,  nor 
to-morrow,  but  now  !  "  and  falling  on  his  knees,  he  called  on 
God  for  mercy.  And  his  heavenly  Father  "  ran  and  fell  on  his 
neck,  and  kissed  him." 

Another   lawyer,  from  Greene  County,   being   in   the    city, 

came   to  hear   me   preach.      He   was   deeply  affected,  though 

he  struggled  to   conceal   his   feelings.      But  his  compunctious 

followed  him  home.      His   wife    noticed   that   something  was 

9 


106  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

the  matter  with  him,  and  finally  induced  him  to  tell  her  of 
the  burden  of  his  heart.  Her  heart  responded  to  his,  and  they 
both  knelt  in  prayer  to  God.  While  they  were  calling  on 
him,  he  answered  them,  and  they  both  rejoiced  in  the  hope  of 
salvation.  While  I  was  preaching  in  New  York  city,  some 
time  after  this,  he  came  to  see  me,  and  told  me  that  when  the 
light  of  God's  love  first  burst  upon  him,  only  the  fear  of  being 
thought  crazy  restrained  him  from  going  among  his  neighbors, 
shouting,  "  Glory  to  God  !  " 

I  learned  some  interesting  facts  concerning  this  meeting,  of 
which  I  was  ignorant  at  the  time  it  was  in  progress. 

There  was,  in  the  outskirts  of  the  city,  a  shop  containing 
some  sixty  or  seventy  men  ;  one  of  them  came  to  hear  me 
preach,  and,  being  somewhat  of  a  wag,  reported  to  his  comrades 
that  a  man  was  preaching  in  the  Pearl  Street  Church,  who  had 
said,  that  "  it  was  as  impossible  for  some  sinners  to  go  to 
heaven,  as  it  was  for  a  shad  to  come  up  the  North  River  tail 
foremost,  or  climb  up  a  greased  barber's  pole  with  a  loaf  of 
bread  in  its  mouth,  and  a  barrel  of  mackerel  under  its  fin." 
This  canard  excited  their  curiosity,  and  so  they  resolved  to 
come  and  hear  a  man  who  talked  in  that  strain.  But  they 
heard  nothing  about  shad.  They  heard  God's  truth,  and  before 
long  thirty  of  the  men  professed  their  faith  in  Christ.  My 
authority  for  this  statement  is  Deacon  Richardson,  of  Elizabeth 
City,  N.  J.,  who  was  himself  one  of  the  number. 

As  the  results  of  this  revival,  about  five  hundred  persons 
were  added  to  the  two  Baptist  churches  of  the  city.  Afterwards, 
brother- Raymond  and  brother  Swan  held  meetings  in  the  city, 
and  God  greatly  blessed  their  labors.  I  do  not  claim  exclusive 
credit  as  the  sole  agent  whom  God  was  pleased  to  employ  iu 
bringing  about  these  precious  blessings.  Brother  Welch  had 
gathered  about  him  many  families  of  high  standing,  who,  though 
attracted  at  first  by  his  wonderful  eloquence,  had  received  per- 
manent impressions  of  gospel  truth.  This  class  my  ministry 
would  never  have  drawn ;  but  being  there,  and  prepared  to 
receive  the  truth,  God  was  pleased  to  make  my  preaching 


ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  107 

effectual  to  the  salvation  of  many  of  them.  Thus  God  works 
by  different  agents,  and  accomplishes  one  kind  of  result  by  one 
man,  and  a  different  one  by  another. 

Not  long  after  the  revival  in  this  city  had  closed,  S.  M.  Fish 
and  William  Newton  proposed  to  build  another  meeting-house, 
on  condition  that  I  would  promise  to  open  it  with  a  protracted 
meeting.  I  consented  to  do  so.  The  building  was  at  once 
erected.  It  was  located  on  State  Street,  near  the  Capitol.  I 
preached  the  dedication  sermon,  and  commenced  a  protracted 
meeting.  The  Master  smiled  on  the  effort.  I  baptized  about 
two  hundred  converts,  who,  together  with  a  few  from  the  other 
churches,  were  organized,  and  recognized  under  the  name  of  the 
State  Street  Baptist  church. 

The  new  church  was  very  anxious  to  have  me  become  its 
pastor.  In  compliance  with  their  request,  I  subsequently  re- 
moved my  family  to  Albany,  and  remained  in  charge  of  the 
church  one  whole  year.  But  I  soon  found  that  I  could  not  do 
justice  to  the  work  of  a  pastor  and  of  an  evangelist  at  the  same 
time.  Moreover,  God  did  not  seem  to  smile  on  the  undertaking. 
The  church  did  not  continue  to  prosper  under  my  pastoral 
services  as  much  as  the  blessings,  which  had  attended  my  labors 
as  an  evangelist,  had  led  it  to  expect.  I  have  always  thought 
since,  that  God  intended  to  drive  me  out  of  the  pastorate,  and 
to  shut  me  up  to  the  one  work  of  an  evangelist. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

As  soon  as  my  meeting  in  Albany,  in  the  winter  of  1840, 
closed,  I  went  to  the  city  of  New  York.  I  preached  in  the 
Baptist  Tabernacle,  a  building  erected  for  Dr.  Maclay,  in 
Mulberry  Street,  near  Chatham  Square.  This  church  was 
then  in  its  infancy,  and  had  just  called  W.  W.  Everts  to 
become  its  pastor.  I  boarded  with  Deacon  William  Colgate, 
who  became  my  warm  and  fast  friend.  He  was  a  good  man, 
full  of  faith  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  house  of  worship 
being  very  large,  and  being  centrally  located,  I  had  a  fine  op- 
portunity of  reaching  the  masses  of  the  city.  Very  soon  tie 


108  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

house  was  filled  to  its  utmost  capacity,  the  aisles  being  crowded, 
the  porches  jammed,  and  the  sidewalks  overrun  with  people. 

The  power  of  God  came  down  on  the  people  wondrously. 
The  old  stereotyped  prayers  gave  place  to  the  most  earnest  and 
solemn  pleadings  with  God  for  the  salvation  of  souls.  The 
ancient  traditions  of  having  converts  come  before  a  committee, 
and  wait  a  mouth  before  they  could  be  baptized,  was  made  to 
yield  to  the  apostolic  example.  For  a  considerable  time  the 
members  of  the  church  would  meet  in  the  basement  for  the 
purpose  of  listening  to  experiences,  while  I  was  up  stairs  talking 
with  the  anxious.  As  fast  as  they  found  peace  in  believing 
with  all  their  hearts,  I  sent  them  below  to  present  themselves 
to  the  church.  Sometimes  there  were  thirty  or  forty  persons 
who  thus  presented  themselves  on  an  evening.  On  one  occa- 
sion, the  lamented  Deacon  Colgate,  in  his  humorous  way,  took 
me  to  task  for  sending  the  converts  faster  than  the  church  could 
receive  them.  Brother  Everts  and  myself  baptized  ninety-six 
in  one  day ;  and  so  the  work  went  on  for  ten  weeks,  day  and 
night,  without  any  cessation. 

I  generally  preached  at  three  o'clock  P.  M.,  and  half  past 
seven  o'clock  in  the  evening.  The  time  from  four  to  five 
o'clock,  and  from  nine  to  ten  and  a  half  o'clock,  was  spent  in 
prayer  and  conference  exercises. 

The  whole  city  was  moved.  Business  men  would  come  in 
during  the  day  and  spend  a  little  while,  and  come  again  in  the 
evening.  Very  many  of  them  were  converted.  More  than 
four  hundred  persons  were  baptized  into  the  fellowship  of  this 
church  ;  and  when  it  was  fourteen  months  old,  it  had  seven 
hundred  members.  Very  soon  the  church  bought  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  Laight  Street,  and  set  off  a  colony.  The 
pastor  went  with  the  new  interest. 

A  lady  persuaded  her  husband,  who  "was  a  wealthy  merchant, 
and  an  attendant  on  the  Episcopal  church,  to  come  one  evening 
to  the  meeting.  During  the  sermon  he  became  so  deeply 
interested,  that  at  its  close  he  repaired  to  the  lecture-room,  roso 
for  prayers,  and  went  to  his  house  rejoicing  in  the  hope  of 


ELDER   JACOB   KXAPP.  109 

pardon.  lie  was  soon  afterwards  baptized  and  added  to  the 
church.  This  man  was  so  completely  absorbed  in  the  great 
things  of  the  kingdom,  that  he  gave  up  all  attention  to  his 
worldly  business  for  one  year,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  one 
concern  of  saving  souls. 

The  New  York  Herald  sent  a  reporter  to  our  meetings,  who 
pretended  to  furnish  an  account  of  the  services  for  each  morn- 
ing's issue.  Anxious  to  make  a  sensation,  so  as  to  procure 
sales  of  the  paper,  he  would  give  caricature  accounts  of  all 
that  transpired,  making  burlesque  descriptions  of  the  person  of 
brother  Everts  and  of  myself,  and  of  the  administration  of  the 
ordinance  of  baptism,  and  setting  forth  perverted  and  distorted 
statements  of  my  language.  The  boys  would  "  hawk "  the 
paper  through  the  streets,  crying,  "  Elder  Knapp  and  the  tariff." 
In  this  way  the  meeting  was  advertised  among  a  class  who 
otherwise  might  have  never  heard  of  it,  for  at  that  time  this 
paper  circulated  very  widely,  if  not  exclusively,  among  persons 
who  never  attended,  the  house  of  God.  But  by  this  means 
infidels,  gamblers,  drunkards,  and  libertines  were  excited  with 
curiosity  to  see  and  hear  a  man,  concerning  whom  the  Herald 
was  making  so  much  ado.  Many  of  them,  who  "  came  to 
scoff,  remained  to  pray." 

I  recollect  an  instance  of  an  infidel,  who  had  not  attended 
a  church  in  ten  years,  and  had  taken  an  oath  that  he  never 
would,  ratifying  it  with  a  wish  that,  if  he  ever  should,  the  roof 
might  fall  on  him  and  kill  him  on  the  spot.  But  despite  his 
oath  he  was  constrained  to  come.  He  was  seated  well  forward 
in  the  middle  aisle ;  the  house  was  packed,  and  the  audience  as 
quiet  and  solemn  as  eternity.  The  speaker,  instead  of  saying 
the  funny  things  that  had  been  reported  of  him,  presented  the 
truths  of  God  and  a  future  life  with  warnings  and  entreaties. 
The  man  looked  on  either  side  of  him,  and  found  the  people 
melted  iuto  tears  ;  he  looked  up  to  see  if  the  roof  was  falling  in  ; 
he  looked  back  to  see  if  there  was  a  possibility  of  getting  out, 
but  the  jam  was  too  close.  He  was  compelled  to  remain.  His 
sins  rolled  up  before  him,  and  he  sat  trembling  like  an  aspeu 


110  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

leaf.  At  the  close  of  the  sermon,  he  went  down  into  the  lecture- 
room,  rose  for  prayers,  and  was  converted  before  he  left  the 
house.  Thus  we  see  why  the  devil  and  wicked  men  live. 
Their  wrath  is  made  to  praise  God ;  but  for  the  devil  and  the 
service  of  the  New  York  Herald,  hundreds  who  were  converted 
would  not  have  been  reached.  No  religious  notices,  no  en- 
treaties of  Christian  friends,  could  have  brought  them  to  the 
house  of  God. 

One  woman  of  ill  repute  professed  conversion  in  this  meeting, 
and  presented  herself  to  the  church  for  admission.  Mauy  voted 
against  receiving  her,  especially  the  sisters.  A  committee  was 
appointed  to  wait  upon  her.  They  became  satisfied  of  the 
genuineness  of  her  conversion.  In  reporting  the  case  to  the 
church,  Deacon  Colgate,  who  was  on  the  committee,  remarked, 
"  Brethren,  we  have  got  ourselves  into  difficulty,  and  I  do  not 
see  how  to  get  out  of  it.  We  have  been  praying  the  Lord  to 
convert  sinners ;  we  did  not  tell  him  whom  to  convert,  and  he 
has  converted  one  whom  we  do  not  want."  All  felt  themselves 
rebuked,  and  voted  unanimously  to  receive  her.  She  proved  to 
be  a  consistent  and  exemplary  follower  of  Christ. 

Deacon  Colgate  very  justly  remarked,  that  "  under  my 
labors  thousands  were  converted  from  among  a  class  of  the 
wicked  who  belonged  to  families  in  which  were  no  helps  to 
piety.  Rather,  such  converts  were  exposed  to  every  influence 
calculated  to  draw  them  away,  while  those  who  professed  faith 
under  ordinary  means,  were  usually  those  whose  education  had 
been  moral  and  religious ;  whose  families  were  pious,  or,  at 
least,  attended  church,  while  they  themselves,  perhaps,  had 
been  nurtured  in  the  Sunday  school." 

I  am  unable  to  give  an  accurate  account  of  the  numbers  who 
professed  piety  in  this  meeting.  Hundreds  united  with  other 
churches,  Baptist  and  Pedo-baptist.  But  among  the  trophies  of 
grace  were  quite  a  number  of  prominent  merchants  and  young 
persons,  who  are  now  pillars  in  the  church  of  God.  Several 
young  men  gave  themselves  to  preparation  for  the  ministry ; 
among  whom  I  remember  brother  H.  Harvey,  since  eminent 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  Ill 

as' a  pastor  aud  a  professor  of  biblical  literature  ;  brother  A.  C. 
Buckbee,  now  a  secretary  of  the  American  Bible  Union  ;  brother 
James  8.  Dickerson,  now  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  church  iu 
Pittsburg. 

Under  date  of  November  29,  1866,  brother  W.  W.  Everts, 
of  Chicago,  wrote  me  the  following  statement  regarding  the 
meeting  in  the  Tabernacle  church  in  New  York :  — 

"  Elder  Jacob  Knapp  commenced  his  labors  in  the  Tabernacle 
Baptist  church  in  February,  1840,  at  a  crisis  in  the  history  of 
the  Baptist  denomination  iu  New  York,  and  his  labors  con- 
tributed much  to  mark  that  crisis. 

"  The  revival  measures  that  had  obtained  throughout  the 
state  for  many  years,  and  especially  since  1830,  had  been 
distrusted,  especially  by  the  leading  Baptist  churches  of  the 
city.  The  late  Deacon  Colgate,  studying  with  great  interest 
the  revivals  of  the  country,  became  increasingly  anxious  to  take 
more  effective  means  to  promote  them  in  the  city.  A  chief 
reason  for  uniting  with  others  in  founding  the  Tabernacle  church, 
out  of  the  old  Mulberry  Street  church,  was,  to  try  more  vigorous 
means  to  promote  revivals,  and  bring  the  gospel  to  bear  upon 
the  masses. 

"  After  a  few  mouths  of  supplies,  the  writer  was  called  as 
the  first  pastor  of  the  Tabernacle  Baptist  church,  and  became  at 
once  connected  with  the  spirit  and  aims  of  the  new  movement. 
Considerable  interest  was  at  once  awakened.  Through  the 
autumn  aud  early  winter  considerable  numbers  were  added  to 
the  church,  both  by  letter  and  baptism. 

u  In  these  circumstances,  and  to  carry  out  views  entertained 
in  the  constitution  of  the  new  church,  Elder  Knapp  commenced 
his  labors.  In  the  course  of  that  meeting,  continuing  several 
weeks,  hundreds  were  added  to  the  church.  Nr  r  did  any  serious 
reaction  or  discouragement  follow  that  revival.  Large  numbers 
\vere  added  the  following  years  ;  so  that  in  three  years  the 
membership  of  the  church  rose  from  over  three  hundred  to  over 
nine  hundred. 


112  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

"  This  progress  of  the  Tabernacle  church  encouraged  revival 
measures  and  church  extension  throughout  the  city.  The 
Laight  Street  church  grew  out  of  the  Tabernacle  church. 
Fruits  of  that  revival  are  now  recognized  as  leading  members 
of  many  churches  in  New  York  and  vicinity,  and  throughout 
the  country.  *  The  old  church  herself  has  continued  in  the 
direction  and  greatness  of  her  influence  from  the  impulses  of 
that  period  and  revival.  And  the  most  efficient  membership 
of  that  church,  from  that  day  to  this,  have  looked  back  to  that 
time,  as  the  period  of  '  the  right  hand  of  the  Most  High.' 

"  W.  W.  EVERTS." 

HART-FORD. 

In  the  month  of  December,  1840,  I  visited  Hartford,  Ct. 
As  soon  as  I  had  stepped  out  of  the  stage-coach,  and  put  my 
foot  on  the  pavement  of  its  streets,  I  felt  myself  moved  by  a 
strong  conviction  that  the  Lord  had  "  much  people "  to  be 
gathered  in  this  place,  and  that  he  intended  to  make  my  labors 
effectual  in  the  accomplishment  of  a  great  work. 

I  commenced  services  with  the  South  Baptist  church,  and 
boarded,  during  most  of  my  stay,  in  the  family  of  brother  Albert 
Day.  The  power  of  God  was  very  soon  made  manifest  amongst 
us.  Saints  got  up  out  of  the  way  of  sinners,  and  sinners  came 
rushing  into  the  kingdom.  Brother  Eaton,  pastor  of  the  North 
Baptist  church,  came  and  labored  with  us,  and  large  accessions 
were  made  to  both  of  the  churches. 

Hartford,  at  this  time,  was  a  stronghold  of  the  Universalists, 
many  of  whom  were  converted.  Among  these  I  may  make 
mention  of  the  case  of  Mr.  B.  He  was  a  candid  man,  and 
enjoyed  the  respect  of  the  community.  He  came  quite  fre- 
quently to  hear  me  preach.  He  was  present  on  the  evening  on 
which  I  preached  on  the  subject  of  IJniversalism  ;  and  so  im- 
pressed was  he  with  the  statements  I  made,  that  he  went  home 
and  promised  the  Lord  that  he  would  reexamine  the  subject 
more  thoroughly,  and  that  if  he  found  his  views  to  be  false,  he 
would  renounce  them.  He  opened  his  Bible  at  once,  and  spent 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  113 

most  of  the  night  in  reading  afresh  those  passages  which  he  had 
been  accustomed  to  regard  as  proof-texts  of  the  Universalist 
doctrine.  He  was  astonished  to  find  that  they  failed  utterly  to 
support  the  theory.  He  came  to  church  on  the  following  even- 
ing. My  text  on  that  occasion  was,  "  Choose  ye  this  day  whom 
ye  will  serve."  At  the  close  of  the  sermon  he  arose,  and  turn- 
ing round  to  the  congregation,  he  exclaimed,  "  As  for  me  and 
my  house,  we  will  serve  the  Lord."  As  he  spoke,  a  wonderful 
change  came  over  his  countenance,  and  his  face  became  radiant 
with  joy.  Turning  to  me,  he  said,  "  Last  night  I  hoped  that 
some  one  would  throw  you  into  the  river,  or  get  you  out  of  the 
•way  somehow  ;  but  to-night  I  feel  as  though  I  could  hug  you  !  " 
Shortly  afterwards  he  was  baptized.  He  proved  to  be  a  con- 
sistent and  useful  member  of  the  church. 

The  person  who  had  been  engaged  to  play  on  a  bass  viol  at 
the  opening  of  the  services,  was  expecting,  on  one  occasion,  to 
leave  the  church  during  service  for  the  purpose  of  performing 
on  the  fiddle  at  a  ball.  It  was  known  to  us  that  this  amuse- 
ment was  set  down  for  that  evening,  and  much  prayer  was 
offered  that  God  would  arrest  its  progress.  At  the  appointed 
time  the  musician  left  the  church,  and  entering  the  ball-room, 
lie  informed  the  manager  that  Elder  Knapp  had  just  been  pray- 
ing that  "  the  right  arm  of  the  fiddler  might  be  palsied,  and 
that  the  music  might  sound  like  the  shrieks  and  groans  of  the 
damned  in  the  vaults  of  hell."  The  fiddler  took  his  stand,  and 
the  company  arranged  themselves  on  the  floor ;  but  before  the 
first  set  was  half  through,  the  fiddler  was  seized  with  a  tremor, 
and  his  arm  fell  palsied  by  his  side.  The  music  ceased,  and 
turning  to  the  manager,  he  exclaimed,  "  I  am  under  conviction. 
My  restoration  doctrines  will  not  serve  me.  I  am  resolved  to 
seek  the  salvation  of  my  soul,  and  I  advise  you  all  to  do  the 
same."  The  ball  was  broken  up.  The  fiddler  and  the  manager 
came  directly  over  to  the  church.  The  musician  made  known 
his  case,  and  was  converted  on  the  spot.  Many  of  the  young 
people  came  from  the  ball-room  also,  and  very  soon  found  tha 
Savior. 


114  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

Whenever  a  professed  Universalist  was  converted,  the  other 
Universalists  were  accustomed  to  say  that  he  was  not  a  real 
Uuiversalist.  Finally,  the  brethren  challenged  them  to  select 
out  one  whom  they  would  acknowledge  to  be  sound  in  their 
faith.  They  made  choice  of  one,  and  instantly  the  brethren 
united  in  making  him  a  subject  of  special  prayer  to  God.  The 
result  was,  that  he  too  came  out  and  renounced  Universalism, 
and  gave  his  heart  to  God. 

On  one  occasion,  as  I  was  baptizing  some  converts  in  the 
river,  a  young  man  climbed  up  a  tree,  and  took  his  position  on 
a  branch  that  stretched  out  over  the  spot  where  I  was  standing 
with  the  candidates.  I  prayed  that  God  would  speak  to  that 
"  Zaccheus,"  and  make  him  come  down,  and  that  he  would 
abide  in  his  house.  On  the  following  Lord's  day  he  was  bap- 
tized in  the  same  place. 

At  one  time,  as  I  was  preaching,  a  young  man  began  to  draw 
my  portrait  on  the  back  of  a  pew.  All  of  a  sudden  his  hand 
was  seized  with*  palsy,  so  that  he  was  unable  to  lift  it.  He 
came  out  for  prayers,  and  was  hopefully  brought  to  Christ. 

A  company  of  infidels  were  chopping  wood  near  the  city,  and 
every  evening  one  of  them  would  come  to  meeting,  and  report 
the  proceedings  to  his  associates  on  the  next  morning,  as  a 
matter  of  amusement  and  ridicule.  Once,  as  he  repeated  the 
sermon  with  comments,  and  was  about  to  go  through  a  prayer, 
something  seemed  to  speak  to  him  in  audible  tones,  saying, 
"  You  wicked  wretch !  "  His  axe  dropped  from  his  hands,  and 
he  fell  helpless  to  the  ground.  He  was  carried  to  his  home, 
and  brother  Eaton  was  sent  for  to  pray  for  him.  He  became  a 
penitent  and  pardoned  man. 

One  day,  as  I  was  passing  by  a  rum-shop,  the  keeper  of  the 
establishment  was  dragging  a  poor,  drunken  creature  out  of  his 
cellar,  and  kicking  him  into  the  gutter.  I  turned  round,  looked 
the  rum-seller  in  the  face,  and  exclaimed,  "  Where  am  I?  Is 
this  hell,  and  are  these  devils?  Is  this  the  way  they  treat  each 
other?"  I  related  this  circumstance  in  public.  The  rum-seller 
was  enraged,  and  swore  that  he  would  be  revenged.  He  was 


ELDER   JACOB    KNAPP.  115 

about  to  be  married,  and  the  arrangements  were  all  made  for 
the  ceremony.  He  collected  a  crowd,  and  started  for  the  church 
with  the  avowed  purpose  of  breaking  up  the  meeting.  On  his 
way  he  was  taken  sick ;  he  lingered  a  short  time,  and  on  the 
day  appointed  for  his  wedding,  he  was  a  corpse. 

During  my  stay  here,  the  South  church  called  brother  E. 
Turney  to  be  its  pastor.  I  preached  his  ordination  sermon. 

NEW  HAVEN. 

I  closed  my  meeting  in  Hartford  on  one  evening,  and  com- 
menced another  in  New  Haven  on  the  next.  There  was  then 
only  one  Baptist  church  in  the  city,  and  it  was  small  and  feeble. 
Brother  T.  C.  Teasdale  was  its  pastor. 

The  Lord  owned  and  blessed  his  truth  during  this  effort,  and 
made  the  gospel  the  power  of  God  unto  the  salvation  of  very 
many.  Christians  of  all  denominations  came  in,  and  took  a 
deep  interest  in  the  progress  of  the  work.  Dr.  Taylor,  pro- 
fessor of  theology,  attended,  and  was  heard  to  say,  that  he 
"  thanked  God  that  the  gospel  was  being  preached  so  faithfully." 
The  students  of  Yale  College  were  quite  constant  in  their  at- 
tendance ;  of  these,  seventy-one  were  converted.  At  the  close 
of  the  meeting,  they  sent  me  a  letter  containing  all  their  names, 
and  one  hundred  and  twenty  dollars  as  a  personal  testimonial. 

At  first  some  thought  that  the  interests  of  the  cause  would 
be  better  promoted  by  holding  an  additional  meeting  in  connec- 
tion with,  and  for  the  sake  of,  the  students.  Accordingly,  the 
services  of  Dr.  Kirk  were  obtained.  But  he  had  scarcely 
reached  the  ground,  before  he  recognized  the  importance  of 
maintaining  an  undivided  interest.  He,  therefore,  together  with 
nearly  all  the  professors,  came  to  my  meeting,  and  rendered 
hearty  cooperation  in  conducting  it.  And  I  am  bound  to  say, 
that  seldom,  if  ever,  have  I  found  a  more  noble,  unsectarian 
class  of  Christians,  than  were  the  Congregationalists  of  New 
Haven.  Their  piety,  liberal-mindedness,  p^d  intelligence,  won 
my  highest  admiration  and  affection. 

In  this  city  there  was  a  noted  gambling-house,  to  which,  as  I 


116  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

learned,  many  of  the  ungodly  students  resorted  ;  especially  the 
high  bloods  from  the  South.  I  regarded  it  my  duty  to  expose 
this  den  of  iniquity,  and  warn  all  against  it.  This  exposure 
brought  out  several  of  the  students,  and  all  the  hard  characters 
of  the  city.  Thirty-eight  of  the  students  entered  into  a  solemn 
covenant  that  they  would  break  up  the  meeting  at  the  risk  of 
their  lives. 

Arming  themselves  with  clubs,  bowie-knives,  and  other  instru- 
ments of  death,  they  came  into  the  church,  and  stationed  them- 
selves in  different  parts  of  the  house  —  some  in  the  gallery  and 
some  below.  As  soon  as  the  congregation  was  dismissed,  they 
undertook  to  keep  the  people  from  going  out.  They  blocked  up 
the  aisles,  and  refused  to  give  way,  resisting  the  pressure  by  a 
display  of  clubs  and  threats  of  assault. 

I  requested  them  to  stand  aside  and  let  the  people  pass  ;  but 
they  stood  their  ground,  and  brandished  their  weapons.  I  then 
called  for  the  tithing-men  (as  the  law  of  the  state  required). 
As  soon  as  these  officers  began  to  appear,  the -students  cried 
out,  "Yale!  Yale  I "  (the  sign  word  agreed  upon),  when 
instantly  those  in  the  galleries  threw  themselves  over  its  breast- 
works, and  slid  down  the  pillars  into  the  crowd  below.  A 
sharp  scuffle  ensued,  and  very  shortly  law  and  order  prevailed. 
Some  of  the  mob  were  carried  off  to  the  watch-house,  were 
tried  the  next  day,  and  fined. 

After  this,  for  four  or  five  nights  in  succession,  a  mob  would 
form  on  the  college-green,  and  come  down  to  the  church  about 
the  time  of  dismissing  the  congregation.  They  avowed  their 
purpose  to  kill  me,  and  on  several  occasions  I  went  to  my 
lodgings  surrounded  by  a  body-guard.  On  one  evening  I  ex- 
changed cloaks  with  a  brother,  and  passed  out  before  many  of 
the  congregation  had  left  the  church.  On  my  way  home  alone, 
I  met  several  hundreds  of  the  mob.  Those  in  advance  asked 
me  if  the  meeting  was  out.  I  replied,  "  Yes  ;  and  unless  you 
look  sharp,  Knapp  will  be  gone."  They  started  on  the  -run, 
and  I  went  quietly  to  my  room. 

The  mob  was  finally  broken  up  by  the  following  remarkable 


ELDER    JACOB    KXAPP.  117 

providence.  One  of  them,  had  sent  me  -an  abusive  letter, 
threatening  my  life  if  I  did  not  leave  the  city.  On  the  evening 
of  the  day  in  which  I  received  it,  a  number  of  the  desperadoes 
came  into  the  sanctuary,  and  seated  themselves  in  the  gallery. 
Shortly  after  I  had  commenced  preaching,  a  rifle-ball  was 
thrown  at  me  ;  but  hitting  the  shade  of  the  lamp,  it  was  turned 
out  of  its  course.  Some  thought  that  it  had  been  shot  from  an 
air-gun,  but  the  possibility  is,  that  it  was  thrown  by  hand. 
Brother  Teasdale  immediately  arose,  and  read  to  the  congrega- 
tion the  letter  referred  to.  This  letter  called  me  "  the 
prince  of  liars,"  because  I  had  related  publicly  how  God  had 
broken  up  the  mob  in  Rochester  by  sending  thunder  and  light- 
ning ;  and  challenged  a  repetition  of  the  scene.  Deacon  Sage, 
of  Rochester,  who  was  providentially  present,  rose  and  corrobo- 
rated my  statement.  No  sooner  had  silence  been  regained, 
than  a  flash  of  terrific  lightning  blazed  through  the  house,  fol- 
lowed by  awful  peals  of  thunder  and  torrents  of  rain.  This 
marvellous  coincidence  effectually  dispersed  the  mob. 

Nevertheless,  the  thirty-eight  who  had  banded  themselves 
together  to  break  up  the  meeting,  did  not  abandon  their  purpose. 
They  changed  their  tactics.  They  arranged  to  gain  access  to 
my  lodgings,  and,  disguised,  to  seize  me,  gag  me,  and  putting 
me  into  a  carriage,  to  carry  me  into  the  woods,  and  there 
deliberate  as  to  what  further  course  should  be  pursued.  But 
one  of  their  number  was  seized  with  convictions,  which  led  him 
to  reveal  to  me  the  plot.  Several  of  the  brethren  resolved  to 
stand  guard  each  night.  The  desperadoes,  learning  -that  the 
house  was  well  protected,  resorted  to  stratagem.  One  night, 
after  I  had  retired,  the  footsteps  of  a  man  were  heard  clamping 
on  the  sidewalk.  In  a  moment  the  door-bell  was  pulled  with 
great  violence.  Occupying  a  front  room,  I  opened  the  window, 
and  asked  what  was  wanted.  A  man  at  the  door  replied  that 
he  wanted  to  see  Mr.  Knapp.  I  said,  "  I  am  the  man."  He 
remarked  that  "  a  person,  some  little  distance  off,  was  under 
deep  conviction,  and  wanted  Mr.  Knapp  to  come  right  away 
and  pray  for  him."  I  tcld  him  to  "  tell  the  man  that  he  must 


118  AUTOBIOG2APHY    OP 

pray  for  himself,  or  he  would  go  right  down  to  hell."  I  under- 
stood the  plot  at  an  instant,  and  learned,  on  the  day  following, 
that  a  carriage  was  in  readiness,  and  a  company  of  men,  to 
carry  me  away,  and  that  this  man  had  been  paid  one  dollar  to 
decoy  me  out  of  the  house. 

After  this,  two  of  the  gang  were  converted,  and  one  of  them 
told  me  that  "  it  seemed  to  him  that  he  could  not  be  happy  even 
in  heaven,  in  view  of  the  many  souls  he  had  already  sent  to 
hell."  He  had  kept  a  depository  for  the  sale  of  infidel 
books,  and  had -engaged  actively  in  every  effort  to  disseminate 
the  poison  of  error. 

The  two  men  whose  billiard-i-oom  I  exposed,  soon  became 
interested  in  the  meeting.  One  of  them,  T.,  came  forward  for 
prayers,  in  the  spirit  of  derision,  having  been  hired  to  do  so.  I 
had  been  told  of  his  intention,  and  kneeling  down  near  to  him, 
I  prayed  for  him  very  earnestly.  In  my  prayer,  I  described 
the  character  of  a  gambler,  and  spoke  of  him  as  one  "  who, 
though  once  having  a  kind  heart,  could  harden  himself  until  he 
got  past  all  feeling  —  until  he  could  even  gamble  on  the  grave 
of  his  father,  or  on  the  coffin  of  his  wife."  This  allusion 
troubled  him,  for  he  had  recently  buried  his  wife.  At  the  close 
of  the  service  he  came  to  me,  and  asked  "  how  much  I  wanted 
for  my  prayer,"  and  offered  to  pay  me  handsomely  if  I  would 
give  him  a  report  of  it.  This  poor  man  was  undoubtedly  under 
serious  impressions,  and  alarmed  by  apprehensions.  When  I 
took  the  boat  for  New  York,  he  came  to  the  wharf  to  bid  me 
good  by,  and  wept  when  I  gave  him  my  hand. 

The  other  partner,  Mr.  B.,  professed  conversion,  and  gave 
me  a  history  which  went  to  my  heart.  When  he  came  to  New 
Haven  his  family  stood  high  in  social  position,  being  on  inti- 
mate terms  with  that  of  Dr.  Dwight.  But  yielding  to  his 
passion  for  gambling  and  strong  drink,  he  had  dragged  his  wife 
and  children  down  to  poverty  and  disgrace.  How  painful,  alas  ! 
ihat  we  cannot  retrace  our  steps,  nor  rid  ourselves  of  the  conse- 
quences of  our  wrong-doing !  These  consequences  are  not  con- 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  119 

fined  to  the  wrong-doer,  but  they  involve  his  family  from  genera- 
tion to  generation. 

While  the  meeting  was  in  progress,  the  time  arrived  for 
holding  the  annual  ball  of  the  Junior  Class  in  college,  but 
owing  to  the  great  interest  on  the  subject  of  religion,  it  was 
put  off.  Soon  after  I  left,  however,  a  meeting  was  called,  and 
arrangements  were  made,  and  the  time  appointed  for  it.  It 
was  said  by  one  of  them,  that  "  the  ball  should  come  off  in 
spite  of  Knapp,  the  devil,  or  the  Almighty  !  "  But  one  of  the 
managers  was  taken  sick  suddenly,  and  died.  On  the  day 
appointed  for  the  ball,  his  schoolmates  followed  him  to  the 
grave. 

The  Baptists  in  this  place  had  fallen  into  the  habit  (quite 
common  elsewhere)  of  requiring  their  candidates  for  member- 
ship to  undergo  a  sort  of  probation  before  being  baptized. 
They  must  first  go  before  the  deacons,  or  a  committee,  for  ex- 
amination, and  then  must  wait  a  while  before  they  related  their 
experience  to  the  church.  Multitudes  of  converts  were  thus 
kept  waiting  for  baptism. 

Finding  that  the  church  were  disposed  to  cling  to  their  usage, 
brother  Teasdale  and  myself  came  to  the  conclusion  to  tell  them 
that  we  should  carry  out  our  commission,  and  that  they  could 
take  them  into  their  church,  or  leave  them  to  go  to  other 
churches,  as  they  might  choose.  Whereupon  the  church  an- 
nulled their  former  resolution,  and  voted  to  receive  the  candi- 
dates on  their  experience.  Several  hundred  candidates  were 
baptized ;  though  how  many  I  am  unable  to  state,  as  no  record 
Avas  kept.  As  the  result  of  this  work  of  grace,  the  Baptist 
cause  was  greatly  strengthened  ;  and  socially,  numerically,  and 
financially,  the  Baptist  interest  has  been  much  greater  in  this 
stronghold  of  Pedo-baptist  Congregationalism  since,  than  it  ever 
was  before. 


120  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

ACCOUNTS    OF    PKOTEACTED    MEETINGS. 
(CONTINUED.) 

NEW  BEDFORD:  A  Revival  in  the  Summer. — A  Caviller.  —  Power 
of  Endurance.  —  Earnestness.  —  PROVIDENCE  :  Want  of  Coopera- 
tion. —  Dr.  Wayland.  —  Trial  of  Faith.  —  Increase  of  Interest.  — 
Lawsuit.  —  Results. — BOSTON:  Five  Churches  United.  —  Arduous 
Labors.  —  Plain  Preaching.  —  Opposition.  —  Anxiety.  —  Protests. 

—  A  Mob.  —  A  Passage  of  Scripture.  —  Eagerness  for  Salvation. 

—  Closing  Meetings.  —  Disparagement.  —  Personal  Detraction.  — 
J.  D.  Fulton's  Account. 

IN  the  month  of  June,  1841,  I  visited  New  Bedford.  The 
Baptist  church  was  then  under  the  care  of  brother  Henry 
Jackson. 

It  was  sneeringly  remarked  by  some  one,  that  we  could  do 
nothing  in  the  summer ;  that  our  God  was  the  God  of  the 
winter,  and  not  of  the  summer.  But  the  meeting  had  not  pro- 
gressed far  before  the  pastor  and  myself  were  sent  for  to  pray 
for  this  same  person.  We  found  him  in  deep  distress,  in  view 
of  his  guilt  and  danger,  for  he  had  found  out  that  our  God  was 
not  only  God  of  the  summer  and  of  the  winter  alike,  but  also 
the  Judge  of  the  quick  and  the  dead.  We  remained  with  him 
for  some  time,  and  poured  out  our  souls  in  prayer,  and  left  him 
with  a  trembling  hope  in  the  pardoning  mercy  of  God.  His 
love  and  light  continued  to  increase,  and  he  became  a  professed 
follower  of  Christ. 

Our  meeting  went  on  day  and  night,  in  increasing  power,  for 
about  six  weeks.  Many  were  converted.  Only  a  very  little 
opposition  was  manifested,  and  all  denominations  took  part  in 
the  good  work. 


ELDER   JACOB    KNAPP.  121 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Howard,  wealthy  members  of  the  Episcopal 
church,  invited  rny  eldest  daughter  to  spend  a  year  in  their 
family,  and  attend  the  Female  Seminary  with  their  daughters. 
The  invitation  was  gratefully  accepted. 

During  this  meeting  a  gentleman  of  marked  independence  of 
character  was  awakened  by  the  death  of  his  wife.  Shortly 
before  her  last  moment,  she  was  told  that  she  could  not  recover. 
Immediately  she  sprang  from  her  bed  —  resisting  all  efforts  to 
restrain  her  —  and  falling  on  her  face,  cried,  with  her  expiring 
breath,  "  O  Lord  Jesus,  have  mercy  on  my  poor  soul !  "  This 
man  came  into  our  meeting,  anxious  to  become  a  Christian,  but 
could  not  be  induced  to  take  the  seat  assigned  to  the  inquirers. 
I  asked  him  "  why  he  declined."  He  said  "  it  would  do  him 
no  good."  I  told  him  "  it  might  help  to  subdue  his  pride,  and 
overcome  the  fear  of  man."  He  answered,  "  There  is  not  the 
man  on  earth  of  Avhom  I  stand  in  fear."  I  replied,  "  Friend  R., 
I  will  give  you  a  problem  to  solve  :  you  find  a  strong  reluctance 
to  taking  this  step,  and  you  say  it  is  not  pride  nor  the  fear  of 
man  that  keeps  you  back :  please  tell  me,  to-morrow,  what 
it  is  that  restrains  you."  The  next  day  he  told  me  he  had 
solved  the  problem  ;  that  I  was  right ;  that  he  did  fear  man 
more  than  he  feared  his  Maker.  That  evening  he  came  out  for 
prayers,  and  found  Jesus  at  once. 

The  weather  was  warm,  and  my  labors  intense.  The  people 
were  amazed,  and  wondered  how  I  met  the  demands  made  upon 
my  strength.  But  I  have  always  found  the  truth  of  the  promise, 
"  As  thy  days  are,  so  shall  thy  strength  be."  Worldly  people 
have  been  often  at  a  loss  to  know  how  Christian  women,  for 
instance,  can  attend  to  all  their  household  affairs,  keep  every- 
thing in  order,  take  care  of  company,  and  go  to  meeting  day  and 
night  for  months  together,  and  yet  keep  as  bright  and  cheerful 
as  a  lark.  It  is  really  surprising  what  a  small  amount  of 
sleep  and  food  we  can  get  along  with,  and  how  much  we  can 
endure,  when  we  are  filled  with  the  Spirit.  Machinery  well 
oiled  can  be  run  day  and  night  for  years  together  with  but 
little  friction. 

10 


122  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

While  preaching  one  Sunday  morning  in  this  meeting,  I 
became  so  absorbed  in  my  subject,  and  so  earnest  in  its  delivery, 
that  my  daughter  rose  up  in  her  seat,  extending  her  arms  to 
catch  me,  as  she  thought  I  was  surely  coming  over  the  pulpit. 
At  the  same  time  I  ruptured  a  blood-vessel  near  the  centre  of 
the  eye,  and  a  blood  spot  remained  in  sight  for  a  considerable 
time. 

I  found  brother  Jackson  a  kind-hearted,  generous  man,  who 
entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  meeting  with  all  his  heart. 

PROVIDENCE. 

I  began  my  labors  in  the  city  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  about  the 
1st  of  November,  1841.  I  was  called  to  the  field  by  the  Third 
Baptist  church,  of  which  brother  T.  C.  Jamieson  was  then 
pastor.  The  other  Baptist  churches  did  not,  as  a  whole,  cooperate 
with  us  in  this  effort.  But  different  brethren  of  the  various 
churches  came  in  gradually,  one  after  the  other,  until  the  pre- 
judices of  nearly  all  were  overcome.  Some  held  out  to  the  last ; 
and  in  this  regard,  I  felt  the  difference  between  the  treatment 
I  received  here  from  persons  of  high  distinction,  and  that  which 
I  had  received  from  persons  in  similar  positions  in  Schenectady 
and  New  Haven.  In  Providence  I  had  no  cooperation  nor 
favor  from  such. 

Dr.  Wayland  came  in  and  heard  me  preach  once ;  but  I  suspect 
that  he  was  not  very  favorably  impressed ;  for  I  was  merely 
giving  a  sort  of  talk  to  the  church,  and  withal  his  presence 
embarrassed  me.  Nevertheless,  I  was  glad  to  learn  that,  in  his 
instructions  to  his  pupils  as  to  the  right  kind  of  preaching,  his 
views  came  nearer  to  my  style  of  sermonizing,  than  to  that  of 
any  other  man.  And,  certainly,  many  of  his  published  writings 
are  in  perfect  harmony  with  what  I  have  preached  for  thirty- 
five  years ;  especially  do  I  consider  his  sermon  on  The  Apostolic 
Ministry  as  a  model  presentation  of  the  gospel  method  of  dis- 
seminating the  truths  of  salvation.  I  have  rarely  come  across 
the  writings  of  any  man  from  which  I  have  derived  more 
pleasure  and  profit. 


ELDER   JACOB    KNAPP.  123 

For  a  time  everything  looked  dark.  Our  faith  was  put  to  a 
severe  test.  I  remember  that  one  evening  as  brother  Jamieson 
and  I  stood  on  the  hill  which  overlooks  the  city,  we  recon- 
noitred the  forces  that  seemed  to  be  against  us.  There  were 
in  sight  of  us  the  First  and  Pine  Street  Churches,  with  their 
great  resources  of  influence,  if  not  openly  opposing,  at  least 
withholding  their  sympathies,  and  practically  giving  us  the  cold 
shoulder.  And  in  positive  array,  on  the  devil's  side,  were  the 
Unitarian  and  Universalist  churches,  together  with  that  motley 
crowd  of  the  ungodly  who  disclaimed  association  with  any 
religious  society.  I  felt  the  cold  chills  running  up  and  down 
my  back,  and  hastened  to  my  room,  and  sought  a  renewal  of 
my  strength  in  prayer.  My  constant  cry  was,  "  O  Lord,  gird 
us  up  for  this  conflict ,  let  not  our  faith  fail ;  put  the  whole 
sacramental  host  in  battle  array  against  the  powers  of  darkness, 
and  let  thy  great  name  be  honored  in  the  salvation  of  thousands 
of  souls !  " 

I  soon  found  that  as  long  as  my  eye  was  fixed  on  Christ, 
there  was  no  danger  of  my  sinking ;  but  as  soon  as  it  was 
turned  on  the  waves  that  pressed  around  me,  I  began  to  go 
down.  It  was  not  long  before  the  work  broke  out  with  great 
power.  New  conquests  were  made  every  day,  and  public 
opinion  began  to  change  rapidly  in  my  favor.  The  doors  of  the 
Pine  Street  Baptist  church  were  at  length  thrown  open  to  me, 
and  the  house  became  thronged  at  once  with  the  multitudes  who 
were  eager  to  hear  the  words  of  life.  Many  of  the  members  of 
Congregational  and  Episcopal  churches  came  in  with  us,  and 
the  work  extended  over  the  city. 

The  Universalists,  as  usual,  became  very  much  enraged.  A 
good  brother  gave  me  some  information,  which  I  repeated  from 
the  pulpit,  concerning  a  woman  in  that  city,  which  further  inves- 
tigation proved  to  be  incorrect,  to  the  extent  that  they  related  to 
her  husband  instead  of  to  herself.  A  wealthy  and  revengeful 
Universalist  took  the  matter  up,  and  induced  the  woman  to 
commence  a  suit  against  me.  It  was  privately  arranged  among 
"  the  fellows  of  the  baser  sort "  to  have  the  summons  served  on 


124  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OF 

me  in  the  church,  after  the  people  had  mostly  gone,  so  as  to 
give  me  no  opportunity  to  get  bail,  in  order  that  they  might 
have  the  satisfaction  of  sending  me  to  jail  over  night.  Accord- 
ingly, on  the  appointed  evening,  just  as  we  were  dismissing  the 
second  service,  the  deputy  sheriff,  in  company  with  a  ruffianly 
crowd,  came  in.  As  they  attempted  to  force  their  way  up  the 
aisles,  through  the  congregation  that  was  going  out,  great  con- 
fusion and  uproar  ensued.  The  sheriff  was  summoned  to  take 
care  of  his  own  company,  and  keep  the  peace.  In  the  mean 
time  I  quietly  slipped  out,  and  went  to  my  lodgings.  On  my 
way  I  met  a  gang  of  rowdies,  and  I  experienced  a  repetition  of 
the  scene  which  occurred,  under  similar  circumstances,  in 
New  Haven.  In  a  short  time  I  was  called  upon  by  the  sheriff, 
in  company  with  several  Baptist  and  Congregational  brethren, 
who  went  my  bail.  Afterwards  I  regretted  that  I  gave  bail : 
it  would  certainly  have  been  more  apostolic  to  have  gone  to 
jail,  and  I  should  have  been  brought  into  closer  sympathy  with 
the  experiences  of  Paul  and  Silas,  who  had  blessed  seasons  of 
meditation,  prayer,  and  pjaise. 

When  the  time  came  for  the  case  to  be  tried  I  was  doing  a 
great  work  in  Salem,  Mass.  I  wrote  to  my  friends  that  I 
could  not  leave  it  to  attend  the  suit,  unless  they  felt  it  to  be 
imperatively  important,  but  that  I  would  leave  the  matter  in 
their  hands,  and  hold  myself  responsible  for  any  settlement 
they  might  make.  The  affair  was  finally  settled  by  the  pay- 
ment of  one  hundred  dollars. 

Before  I  left  Providence  scores  of  souls  were  converted  to 
God.  Twenty-three  husbands,  whose  wives  were  members  of 
the  Third  Baptist  church,  were  converted  and  baptized. 

< 
BOSTON. 

In  the  latter  part  of  December,  1841,  I  went  to  Boston,  in 
response  to  the  invitation  of  nearly  all  the  Baptist  pastors  in 
the  city.  I  preached  in  the  First  Baptist  church,  then  and 
now  under  the  pastoral  care  of  brother  Rollin  H.  Neale ;  in 
the  Baldwin  Place  Baptist  church,  of  which  brother  Baron 


ELDER   JACOB    KNAPP.  125 

Stow  was  then  pastor ;  in  the  Bowdoin  Square  Baptist  church, 
whose  pastor  was  brother  R.  W.  Cushman ;  in  the  Harvard 
Street  Baptist  church,  brother  Robert  Turubull,  pastor,  and  in  the 
Tremont  Street  church,  over  whose  services  brother  Nathaniel 
Colver  presided.  The  people  of  brother  Colver's  church  mingled 
their  prayers  and  tears  with  us,  but  their  audience-room  was,  at 
that  time,  so  small,  that  we  could  use  it  only  for  inquiry-meet- 
ings. I  preached  uniformly  twice  every  day,  afternoon  and 
evening,  and  a  portion  of  the  time  in  South  Boston  before  day- 
light. Even  at  this  early  hour  the  house  was  crowded,  for  the 
religious  interest  was  so  intense  in  the  community,  that  almost 
any  sized  house  could  have  been  filled  at  almost  any  hour  in  the 
twenty-four.  I  conducted  inquiry-meetings  at  ten  o'clock,  A.  M., 
and  continued  in  prayer  and  conversation  until  noon  ;  and  at  the 
close  of  the  evening  sermon  I  held  another  inquiry-meeting  of 
one  hour  or  more  in  length.  In  this  way  I  went  on,  day  in  and 
day  out,  preaching  to  great  crowds,  often  an  hour  at  a  time. 
It  is  easy  to  see  that  my  labors  were  without  cessation,  and  very 
severe ;  nevertheless  the  Lord  strengthened  me  for  the  work 
he  had  given  me  to  do.  I  closed  my  labors  in  Providence  one 
night,  and  -began  them  in  Boston  the  next ;  and  preached, 
without  intermission,  three  months,  and  in  all  one  hundred  and 
eighty  sermons. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  week  there  were  two  hundred  inquirers 
in  the  seats  for  prayers.  But  it  pleased  God  to  reduce  the  size 
of  the  army,  as  in  the  case  of  Gideon,  before  he  gave  us  the 
city. 

I  came  out,  as.  I  had  done  elsewhere,  against  Unitarianism 
and  Universalism,  and  all  similar  systems  of  error.  I  called 
things  by  their  right  names,  and  bore  down  heavily  on  the 
manufacture,  sale,  and  use  of  all  intoxicating  liquors  ;  nor  did 
I  pass  over  the  open  infidelity  of  the  city.  The  consequence 
was  a  grand  rally  against  the  progress  of  the  meetings.  The 
first  public  assault  appeared  in  the  columns  of  a  paper,  whose 
editor  was  a  man  of  intemperate  habits.  He  denounced  the 
meetings,  and  was  especially  hard  on  the  preacher.  This 


126  AUTOBIOGRAPHY    OP 

movement  emboldened  all  the  powers  of  darkness.  Many 
Christian  people  ordered  the  paper  to  be  stopped,  but  the  un- 
godly rallied  to  his  encouragement. 

The  opposition  at  length  culminated  in  the  gathering  of  a  vast 
mob  in  Bowdoin  Square,  in  front  of  the  church,  with  the 
avowed  purpose  of  breaking  up  the  meeting.  This  movement 
had  been  anticipated,  for  it  was  publicly  announced.  Some 
well-meaning,  but  cowardly  people,  withdrew  from  the  meet- 
ings, but  the  faithful  held  on  in  prayer.  For  a  short  time  it 
seemed  uncertain  which  way  the  scale  would  turn ;  but  the 
prayers  of  that  eventful  night  —  a  night  never  to  be  forgotten  — 
brought  the  victory.  The  brother  with  whom  I  was  boarding, 
unable  to  sleep,  came  into  his.-  parlor  about  midnight,  and  not 
knowing  that  I  was  there,  kn«lt$down,  and  in  doing  so,  placed 
his  knees  on  my  prostrate  form,  as  I  lay  on  the  floor  in  the 
agony  of  supplication  to  God.  I  .afterwards  ascertained  that 
very  many  others  had  been  passing*  that  night  in  sleeplessness 
and  in  prayer. 

A  number  of  gentlemen,  not  professors  of  religion,  who  had 
contributed  to  the  erection  of  the  beautiful  and  spacious  church 
on  Bowdoin  Square,  not  relishing  my  style  of  preaching,  sought 
to  intimidate  the  trustees  into  shutting  the  doors  against  me  by 
threatening  to  give  up  their  pews.  They  were  not  prepared  to 
listen  to  such  plain,  outspoken,  sin-killing,  and  devil-binding 
truths.  Deacon  Asa  Wilbur  at  once  stepped  forward,  and 
bought  the  pews  of  all  who  wished  to  dispose  of  them.  A  few 
came  into  his  hands,  but  before  the  meeting  closed  more  were 
in  demand  than  had  been  given  up. 

A  distiller,  who  had  paid  liberally  towards  building  the  house, 
as  an  expression  of  his  contempt  for  the  meetings,  took  all  his 
family,  one  night,  to  the  Museum ;  on  returning  home  he  was 
seized  with  a  pain  in  the  hollow  of  his  foot,  and  before  the 
doctor  reached  him  he  was  dead.  One  of  Paine's  disciples  sat 
up  all  night  preparing  clubs  with  which  to  break  my  head,  but 
coming  in  to  hear  me,  God  broke  his  heart.  The  chief  officer, 
who  called  out  the  Lancers  to  quell  the  riot  and  disperse  the 


ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  127 

mob,  confessed  that  his  heart  was  in  sympathy  with  the  mob, 
and  that  he  hoped  they  might  succeed,  though  at  the  same  time 
he  was  resolved  to  discharge  the  duties  of  his  office.  He  was 
convicted  of  his  sins,  and  became  an  inquirer  after  salvation. 

The  man  who  drew  the  plan  of  the  house,  and  who  was 
mingling  sympathiziugly  with  the  mob,  suddenly  broke  away 
from  them,  came  into  the  prayer-meeting,  and  begged  the 
prayers  of  God's  people.  On  the  last  night  in  which  the  mob 
made  a  demonstration,  they  followed  me  to  the  house  of  Deacon 
Wilbur,  and  stood  in  the  street  in  front  of  it.  The  deacon 
walked  up  to  them,  and  addressed  them  as  follows :  "  Gentle- 
men, Mr.  Knapp  is  in  the  house  ;  walk  in  ;  he  will  treat  you  in 
a  gentlemanly  way ;  or,  if  >  you  wish  it,  I  will  invite  him  out 
here,  and  he  will  address  ydutw  They  took  off  their  hats,  and 
waving  them  gracefully,  responded,  "  Good-night,  Mr.  Wilbur," 
and  quietly  retired.  From  this  point  public  opinion  began  to 
react  in  our  favor,  and  the  word  of  the  Lord  "  grew  mightily/' 

When  the  conflict  of  public  opinion  was  at  its  height,  and 
some  were  saying  of  me,  "  He  is  a  good  man,"  and  others  were 
saying,  "  Nay,  but  he  deceiveth  the  people,"  a  circumstance 
occurred  of  singular  interest.  Mrs.  D.,  a  refined  and  pious 
lady,  called  upon  me  one  day  when  I  was  absent.  While  wait- 
ing for  my  return,  she  took  up  a  Bible  which  lay  on  the  table, 
and  prayed  that  she  might  be  directed  to  some  passage  of 
Scripture  which  would  indicate  my  real  character.  She  opened 
the  Bible  at  random,  and  her  eyes  instantly  fell  on  Psalm  xci. 
15,  16  :  "  He  shall  call  upon  me,  and  I  will  answer  him  :  I  will 
be  with  him  in  trouble ;  I  will  deliver  him,  and  honor  him. 
With  long  life  wity  I  satisfy  him,  and  show  him  my  salvation." 
When  I  came  in  she  told  me  of  the  circumstance,  and  read  the 
passage  in  my  hearing.  Under  these  peculiar  circumstances, 
the  passage  afforded  me  great  comfort  and  encouragement.  It 
melted  me  to  tears.  .  I  knew  that  many  of  those  who  stood 
aloof  from  me,  and  looked  askance  at  me,  were  my  superiors  in 
intelligence,  culture,  and  .ability.  I  felt  myself  to  be  a  child, 
and  unable  to  stand  up  against  the  multitudes,  and  their  mani- 


128  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

fold  influences  of  opposition,  unless  the  Lord  should  uphold 
me.  But  with  the  conviction  that  he  was  on  my  side,  I  had 
no  fears. 

It  will  never  be  known,  until  the  day  of  judgment,  how  many 
were  converted  in  this  revival.  Two  thousand  persons  were 
added  to  the  churches  composing  the  Boston  Baptist  Associa- 
tion during  that  year.  Hundreds  were  added  to  churches  of 
other  denominations,  and  many  came  in  from  the  surrounding 
villages  and  were  converted.  Indeed,  there  were  instances  of 
persons  coming  from  distant  parts,  and  taking  rooms  at  board- 
ing-houses, for  the  sake  of  attending  the  meetings,  in  order  that 
they  might  obtain  salvation.  One  lady,  residing  in  New  York 
city,  came  with  this  end  in  view.  Some  of  her  friends  ex- 
pressed surprise  at  her  course,  especially  as  she  had  a  family. 
Her  reply  was,  "  If  I  had  supposed  that  there  were  any  means 
in  Europe  which  were  better  adapted  to  bring  me  to  Christ 
than  there  are  here,  I  would  have  left  husband  and  children,  and 
have  hastened  there  as  quickly  as  steam  could  carry  me ; " 
adding,  "  What  are  all  these  little  sacrifices,  in  comparison  with 
eternal  life  ?  "  I  need  hardly  remark  that  this  dear  woman  went 
back  to  her  home  a  new  creature  in  Christ  Jesus. 

Near  the.  close  of  these  delightful  meetings  we  spent  two 
days  in  special  thanksgiving  —  one  day  in  the  Bowdoin  Square 
church,  and  one  day  in  the  Baldwin  Place.  From  ten  o'clock 
until  dark  each  day  the  time  was  taken  up  in  the  review  of 
God's  wonderful  mercy  and  grace.  Almost  every  heart  was 
surcharged  with  gratitude  to  God  for  some  particular  blessing  : 
parents,  because  their  children  had  become  the  children  of 
God ;  husbands,  because  their  wives,  and  wives  because  their 
husbands,  had  given  their  hearts  to  the  Savior  ;  teachers,  because 
so  many  of  the  scholars  had  become  disciples  of  Christ ;  and 
pastors,  because  so  many  of  their  congregations  had  been  added 
to  the  company  of  those  who  would  "  be  saved." 

An  Episcopalian  missionary  from  Africa,  on  hearing  a  man 
give  thanks  for  what  "  God  had  done  for  his  soul,"  rose  up,  and 
remarked  that  this  very  man  had  been  a  rum-seller  in  Africa, 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  129 

and  had  stood  much  in  his  way  in  laboring  for  the  conversion 
of  the  natives ;  he  desired  to  lift  up  his  voice  in  thanksgiving 
that  this  man  had  now  become  "  a  fellow-helper  to  the  truth." 
The  churches  were  greatly  strengthened  in  numbers  and  means 
of  usefulness.  Several  of  the  places  of  amusement  were  closed, 
the  attendance  on  them  not  being  sufficient  to  pay  expenses. 
Billiard-tables  and  bar-rooms  were  neglected ;  and  you  could 
scarcely  meet  a  man  in  the  market  or  on  the  street  whose 
countenance  did  not  indicate  seriousness,  and  whose  language 
was  not  subdued.  The  Spirit  of  God  was  poured  out  on  the 
whole  city,  and  all  the  people  seemed  to  be  affected  by  the 
power  of  his  presence.  The  streets  at  midnight  were  deserted, 
and  the  stillness  of  the  hour  was  disturbed  only  by  the  voice  of 
prayer  or  the  song  of  praise,  as  they  were  wafted  from  counting- 
house,  garret,  or  parlor.  It  was  during  the  progress  of  these 
meetings  that  the  Tremont  Theatre  was  offered  for  sale  aud 
converted  into  a  Temple.  In  this  enterprise  Timothy  Gilbert 
was  the  prime  mover. 

I  have  often  said  to  myself,  "  O,  if  Christians  were  always  as 
devoted  aud  earnest,  how  soon  would  the  world  be  converted  to 
Christ !  "  But  shortly  after  my  departure  a  sad  and  disastrous 
reaction  set  in.  I  know  that  assiduous  attempts  have  been 
made  to  hold  me  responsible  for  all  the  unfortunate  scenes  that 
followed  these  meetings  ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  it  would  be 
just  as  reasonable  to  charge  on  Paul's  zealous  aud  untiring 
labors  at  Ephesus,  the  blame  of  all  the  havoc  which  wolves 
made  among  the  flock  after  he  had  left  them. 

In  this  instance  the  opposition  to  my  ministry  arose,  not  from 
without,  but  from  within.  Jesus  was  "  wounded  in  the  house 
of  his  friends."  It  did  not  culminate  while  I  was  on  the 
ground,  but  broke  out  after  I  had  gone  to  another  field.  The 
very  men  who  had  given  me  their  countenance  while  laboring 
to  give  strength  to  their  churches,  enlisted  their  sympathies 
against  me,  as  an  apology  for  their  want  of  success  in  taking 
care  of  the  increased  flocks  committed  to  their  charge. 

The  assault  that  was  made  against  me  was  of  a  two-fold 


130  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

character.  In  the  first  place,  the  value  of  the  work  itself  was 
disparaged.  It  was  alleged  that  the  converts  brought  in  under 
my  ministry  did  not  hold  out.  Now  I  know  full  well  that  it  is 
in  the  order  of  God's  kingdom  that  the  chaff  shall  grow  with 
the  wheat,  and  I  doubt  not  that  many  who  have  been  brought 
into  the  church  under  my  labors  will  not  be  admitted  into  the 
church  in  heaven.  But  in  this  respect  I  believe  that  a  careful 
and  statistical  investigation  would  show,  that  the  proportion  of 
apostates  and  worthless  professors  has  been  no  greater  under  my 
preaching  than  it  has  been  under  the  labors  of  stated  pastors. 
And  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  very  many  of  those  who 
had  been  brought  in  during  the  protracted  meetings,  had 
never  received  any  previous  religious  culture,  and  found  them- 
selves embarrassed  when  brought  into  the  atmosphere  of  refine- 
ment and  culture.  These  persons  needed  of  the  pastors,  and  the 
older  church  members,  solicitous  watch-care  ;  but,  alas  !  in  too 
many  instances  they  were  neglected,  and  made  to  feel  the 
chilling  repulsions  with  which  aristocratic  bearing  and  suspicious 
reserve  met  them  as  they  crossed  the  threshold  of  the  Christian 
church.  If  there  is  one  thing  which  pains  me  more  than 
another,  that  awakens  in  my  heart  anxiety  as  to  the  future  of 
Zion,  it  is  the  growing  desire  of  ministers  and  churches  to 
gather  their  converts  from  the  ranks  of  the  wealthy  and  the 
intelligent.  The  church  of  Christ  is  no  place  for  caste.  There, 
if  any  where,  the  rich  and  poor  should  meet  together;  and 
there,  if  any  where,  if  any  discrimination  exists,  it  should  be 
an  intenser  anxiety  to  gather  into  the  fold  of  Christ  those  who, 
by  reason  of  poverty,  neglect,  and  vice,  are  tempted  to  exclaim, 
*'  No  man  cares  for  our  souls  !  " 

But  instead  of  a  redoubling  of  diligences  lest  any  of  these 
lambs  should  "  fail  of  the  grace  of  God,"  measures  were  im- 
mediately inaugurated  which  practically  left  them  to  perish. 
Two  of  the  pastors  went  off  to  Europe,  and  were  gone  several 
months.  One  church  was  closed,  during  most  of  one  season,  for 
enlargement  and  repairs  ;  while  the  leader  of  another  part  of  the 
flock,  either  from  sympathy  with  my  enemies,  or  from  a  want 


ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  131 

of  personal  adaptation  to  the  work  before  him,  let  slip  the 
opportunity  of  retaining  the  crowds  that  thronged  his  house 
when  I  left ;  and  brother  Colver's  edifice  was  too  small  to  accom- 
modate a  large  congregation,  and  his  brethren  were  straining 
every  nerve  to  convert  the  Tremont  Theatre  into  the  Tremont 
Temple. 

No  wonder  then  if,  in  view  of  these  discouragements,  many 
fell  away.  And  yet  a  somewhat  careful  calculation,  by  Deacon 
Asa  Wilbur,  has  shown  that  during  the  four  years  succeeding 
my  ministry  in  Boston,  the  five  churches  with  which  I  labored 
excommunicated  only  "  fifteen  per  cent,  on  their  baptisms, 
and  all  the  other  churches  in  the  Boston  Association,  taken 
together,  excluded  nearly  nineteen  per  cent,  on  their  baptisms  ;  " 
while  the  "  two  churches  in  the  city  where  Mr.  Knapp  did  not 
labor,  baptized  (during  these  four  years)  one  hundred  and 
twenty-two,  and  excluded  thirty-six,  or  twenty-nine  per  cent,  oil 
their  baptisms."  * 

In  the  second  place,  a  wicked  and  deliberate  attempt  was 
made,  by  some  in  high  standing  in  the  denomination,  to  destroy 
the  public  confidence  in  my  Christian  integrity.  The  leaders 
in  this  conspiracy  are  now  dead,  and  I  pass  over  their  names 
in  silence.  Unable  to  fix  the  shadow  of  suspicion  on  my 
personal  purity  and  truthfulness,  these  men  set  themselves  to 
the  task  of  investigating  the  quality  and  texture  of  my  garments. 
It  is  very  true,  that  neither  myself  nor  my  family,  while  in 
Boston,  arrayed  ourselves  in  costly  and  fashionable  attire.  All 
the  habits  of  my  life  were  based  on  a  theory  of  rigid  economy : 
my  early  necessities  had  schooled  me  into  it.  My  income  from 
the  churches,  on  which  I  had  a  right  to  rely  for  the  support 
of  my  family,  did  not  warrant  lavish  expenditures,  and,  withal, 
having  spent  most  of  my  time  in  the  country,  I  was  not  up  to 
the  demands  of  Boston  fashions ;  so  that  it  is  possible  that  in 
some  regards  my  toilet,  though  always  whole  and  cleanly,  was 

*  See  "  An  Examination  of  the  Comparative  Statistical  Results  of  the 
Labors  of  Elder  Jacob  Knapp  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  by 
A.  Wilbur,"  in  Appendix  I. 


132  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

not  in  keeping  with  the  tastes  of  many  of  the  people  who  came 
to  hear  me  preach. 

Now  these  wiseacres  affected  to  make  the  wonderful  discovery 
that  I  dressed  thus  plainly  for  the  express  purpose  of  creating 
the  impression  that  I  was  desperately  poor,  and  wanted,  by  this 
means,  to  excite  public  sympathy  and  contributions.  Where- 
upon learned  doctors  of  divinity  set  themselves  busily  to  work 
to  find  out  how  many  pairs  of  stockings,  and  how  many  changes 
of  underclothing,  and  how  many  pocket-handkerchiefs  I  brought 
with  me  into  Boston,  and  how  many  I  carried  with  me  when  I 
left. 

No  one  was  found  who  could  say  that  I  had  ever  asked  for  a 
penny  of  compensation,  or  begged  the  favor  of  a  single  garment. 
It  is  true,  that  when  my  wife  and  I  were  getting  ready  to  come 
to  Boston,  we  were  so  far  affected  with  a  regard  for  the  reputa- 
tion of  the  people  there  for  fastidiousness,  that  we  thought  we 
were  making  unusual  preparations  for  our  visit ;  it  is  further 
true,  that  in  some  cases,  finding  further  purchases  needful,  we 
did  sometimes  make  inquiries  where  certain  articles  could  be 
bought ;  and  it  is  further  true,  that  instead  of  always  telling  us, 
many  kind-hearted  persons  would  anticipate  our  intentions,  by 
procuring  them  for  us.  At  the  time,  I  accepted  such  presents 
as  spontaneous  expressions  of  genuine  good  feeling,  and  never 
dreamed  that  any  would  lend  themselves  to  an  attempt  to  con- 
strue them  into  evidences  that  my  main  reason  for  becoming  ail 
evangelist  was  a  desire  to  make  money. 


ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  133 


NOTE. 

The  following  interesting  account  of  Mr.  Knapp's  labors  in  Boston, 
are  to  be  found  in  the  "Life  of  Timothy  Gilbert,  by  Kev.  J.  D.  Fulton, 
Pastor  of  Tremont  Temple  :  "  — 

"  In  Providence  there  was  determined  opposition  to  his  efforts,  on  the 
part  of  several  distinguished  ministers.  On  the  other  hand,  a  document, 
speaking  of  him  in  the  highest  praise,  was  signed  by  over  three  thousand 
individuals,  and  forwarded  to  Boston,  where  an  effort  was  being  made  to 
destroy  his  influence.  On  or  about  the  1st  of  January,  1842,  he  began 
his  labors  with  the  First  Church,  Rev.  Rollin  H.  Neale,  pastor,  and 
preached  there  in  the  afternoon,  in  the  evening  at  Baldwin  Place,  Rev. 
Baron  Stow,  pastor.  On  Monday,  January  9,  Mr.  Knapp  commenced 
at  Bowdoin  Square  Church,  where  he  preached  both  afternoon  and  even- 
ing. It  was  while  here  that  he  met  his  fiercest  oppositions.  Mobs 
gathered  about  Bowdoin  Square  as  they  gathered  in  the  olden  time 
about  the  synagogue  in  Lystra,  and  would  have  stoned  Jacob  Knapp,  and 
have  dragged  him  through  the  city,  as  the  Jews  persuaded  the  people 
of  Lystra  to  do  unto  the  apostle  to  the  Gentiles.  Never  did  chieftain 
bear  himself  more  bravely,  never  did  martyr  walk  more  in  humble  reli- 
ance upon  the  promises  of  a  covenant-keeping  God,  than  did  this  fearless 
preacher.  Citizens  were  stirred  by  his  appeal  and  awed  by  his  sublime 
courage.  William  Ellery  Channing  said,  concerning  him,  '  Let  the 
minister  alone ;  a  man  who  can  stir  Boston  like  that  will  do  good.' 

"Day  after  day  the  excitement  grew  more  fierce  and  intense.  At 
length  it  was  reported  throughout  the  city  that  Mayor  Chapman  had 
eaid  that  the  preacher  was  imprudent,  and  might  take  the  consequences 
of  his  own  conduct.  Immediately  Rev.  William  Hague,  though  not  a 
supporter  of  his  measures,  called  upon  the  mayor,  and  informed  him  of 
the  report,  saying  that  the  occasion  made  its  appeal  to  every  lover  ot 
religious  liberty,  and  in  such  an  emergency  he  should  feel  it  to  be  his 
duty  to  stand  beside  the  preacher,  and  share  the  consequences.  The 
mayor  replied,  '  Sir,  the  report  is  not  true,  and  all  the  power  I  have  at 
my  command  shall  be  concentrated  at  Bowdoin  Square  to-night  in 
defence  of  freedom  of  speech.'  The  crowds  were  dispersed. 

"  To  the  honor  of  the  secular  press  be  it  said  that  with  united  voice 
they  sustained  the  action  of  the  mayor,  and  supported  the  ambassador 
of  Christ  through  the  terrible  ordeal. 

"  There  was  no  hesitation  on  the  part  of  his  friends.  The  church  at 
Baldwin  Place  unanimously  invited  Mr.  Knapp  to  preach  in  their  meet- 


134  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

ing-house.  The  tide  continued  to  flow  in,  and  indications  of  the  divine 
approval  abounded.  The  spiritual  strength  of  Mr.  Knapp  seemed 
literally  renewed.  He  fired  no  blank  cartridges,  but  delivered  broadsides 
at  close  range  into  the  ranks  of  the  foe.  The  opposition  roused  him  and 
encouraged  him.  The  attendance  upon  theatres  waned,  that  upon 
churches  increased.  On  February  9,  1842,  the  '  Reflector  '  says,  '  It  is 
our  privilege  to  do  something  more  than  merely  report  progress.  The 
work  has  now  attained  to  a  degree  of  prevalence  and  power  that  renders 
it  utterly  impossible  for  us  to  convey  to  our  more  distant  readers  an 
adequate  conception  of  what  God  is  permitting  his  people  to  witness  and 
enjoy  in  Boston.  Every  day  brings  to  light  facts  and  scenes  of  the  most 
thrilling  interest.  Among  the  converts,  which  now  amount  to  hundreds, 
there  are  persons  from  every  class  and  of  every  description  of  moral 
character  —  old  men  with  thin  and  silvered  locks,  with  deeply -furrowed 
cheeks,  and  voices  tremulous  and  feeble,  who  were  long  since  given  up 
by  their  friends  as  hopeless  cases,  are,  like  little  children,  praying  and 
weeping,  and  talking  of  the  infinitude  of  God's  mercy  and  the  love  of 
Christ;  and  young  men,  glowing  with  energy  and  ambition,  strong  with 
health  and  hope,  are  proclaiming,  with  apostolic  fervor,  the  truths  which 
to  some  are  a  stumbling-block,  and  to  others  foolishness ;  children  are 
in  many  instances  rejoicing  over  their  parents'  conversion,  and  in  many 
others,  parents  are  blessing  God  for  the  conversion  of  their  children. 
A  family  in  which  father  and  mother  and  five  adult  children  were  con- 
verted were  led  to  Christ  through  the  instrumentality  of  a  single  young 
lady.  Her  importunity  led  them  to  the  meetings ;  her  kind  and  correct 
endeavors  dissuaded  them  from  dropping  the  subject  or  avoiding  the 
influence  which  was  now  creeping  over  them.  She  rested  not  till  God 
and  conscience  had  done  their  work,  and  the  souls  she  loved  were  loved 
of  Heaven. 

"  On  Tuesday  evening  of  last  week,  brother  Knapp  made  '  Uni- 
versalism '  the  theme  of  his  discourse,  and  for  two  hours  and  a  half  held 
a  vast  and  crowded  auditory  in  almost  breathless  silence,  while  he  tore 
up  the  foundations  of  the  system,  and  scattered  the  whole  fabric  to  the 
winds.  Never  did  we  hear  such  an  array  of  facts  —  authentic,  astound- 
ing, withering  facts.  We  thought  that  even  his  Satanic  Majesty  himself, 
had  he  appeared  there  as  a  Universalist,  must  have  quailed  under  them, 
and  hung  his  head  in  shame.' 

"  A  young  man,  a  member  of  Mr.  Skinner's  congregation,  led  by 
curiosity,  found  his  way  to  Baldwin  Place.  Strong  in  the  faith  of  Uni- 
versalism,  he  listened  with  candor,  as  one  inquiring  after  truth ;  and  the 
result  was,  that  Mr.  Knapp  swept  away  every  vestige  of  his  Universal- 
ism,  and,  to  use  his  own  language,  '  took  away  every  shingle  and  clap- 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  135 

board  of  the  building  —  left  nothing  but  the  falling  rafters,  exposing  his 
naked  soul  to  the  peltings  of  the  pitiless  storm.'  The  revival  was 
characterized  by  the  apparent  genuineness  of  the  conversions.  The 
converts  exhibited  a  clear  understanding  of  the  evil  of  sin,  the  holiness 
of  God's  laws,  the  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith,  and  the  necessity  of 
entire  consecration  to  God  —  topics  on  which  Mr.  Knapp  dwelt  with 
great  frequency  and  power.  Though  some  of  the  ministers  treated  Mr. 
Knapp  coolly,  the  majority  of  the  churches  were  heart  and  soul  with 
him. 

"  On  the  first  Sabbath  in  February,  forty-two  united  with  the  First 
Church,  fourteen  with  Bowdoin  Square,  nineteen  with  Baldwin  Place, 
and  twenty-two  with  Tremont  Street. 

"  On  March  2  this  announcement  is  made  under  the  head  of  '  Thea- 
tres : '  '  The  friends  of  morality  and  religion  will  rejoice  to  learn  that 
the  great  theatre  of  Boston,  the  Tremont,  is  closed,  and  that  noble 
granite  edifice  is  offered  for  sale,  and  is  likely  to  be  converted  into  a 
house  of  worship.  At  the  conclusion  of  a  late  entertainment,  the  mana- 
ger announced  that  the  theatre  would  be  closed,  and  stated  that  within 
the  last  three  months  they  had  lost  ten  thousand  dollars  by  keeping  it 
open.'  The  rush  was  in  a  different  direction.  The  churches  were 
thronged,  and  Mr.  Knapp  went  from  place  to  place,  like  a  general  on 
the  field  of  battle,  giving  aid  where  needed.  A  writer  in  the  '  New  York 
Evangelist '  says  of  him,  '  He  preaches  in  his  own  style,  saying  some 
things  that  are  not  in  good  taste,  yet  no  doubt  doing  execution.'  A 
professor  in  one  of  our  theological  schools  attended  upon  his  preaching 
a  whole  Sabbath  since  he  has  been  here,  and  on  being  asked  his  opinion, 
replied,  '  He  is  a  man  of  genius  and  power,  and  though  his  preaching  is 
not  always  in  good  taste,  yet  no  thief,  or  profane  swearer,  or  drunkard, 
or  adulterer,  can  sit  and  listen  to  him  a  great  while  without  feeling  that 
the  constable  is  after  him.' 

"  The  work  goes  on  in  increasing  power.  New  and  striking  cases  of 
conviction  are  daily  occurring  among  persons  of  every  faith,  and  class, 
and  character ;  wholesale  dealers  in  ardent  spirits  have  yielded  to  the 
Spirit  of  God,  and  abandoned  the  cursed  traffic.  A  large  distiller  was 
found  beside  a  vendor  among  the  inquirers.  Baptisms  are  occurring  in 
the  different  churches  every  Sabbath,  and  the  work  is  spreading  through 
the  commonwealth.  March  9  the  '  Puritan '  has  taken  sides  against  Mr. 
Knapp,  and  three  eminent  divines  of  the  straitest  sect  declare  '  the  senti- 
ments of  Mr.  Knapp  are  substantially  sound,  so  far  as  they  go,  but  his 
violation  of  good  taste  is  the  great  secret  of  his  notoriety.' 

"  The  '  Reflector  '  speaks  of  Sabbath,  March  6,  as  furnishing  a  scene 
upon  which  angels  would  look  with  delight.  '  Picture  to  yourself  a 


136  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

crowded  sanctuary,  with  its  long  centre  aisle  occupied  from  end  to  end 
with  a  dense  double  column  of  "  new  recruits  "  to  the  army,  fighting 
under  the  banners  of  our  King,  and  then  receiving,  one  after  another, 
the  significant  pledge  of  Christian  affection,  and  passing  round,  one  to 
the  right  hand  and  another  to  the  left,  until  the  last  young  soldier  was 
greeted,  and  all  duly  enrolled  with  the  sacramental  host  of  God's  elect. 
The  work  has  been  more  powerful  in  the  First  Church,  during  the  last 
week,  than  at  any  time  before.  It  seems  as  if  not  a  single  soul  among 
them  all  was  to  be  left  in  a  state  of  unreconciliation  to  God.  Baptisms 
reported:  First  Church,  fifty-eight;  Baldwin  Place,  fifty-two;  Free 
Church,  forty ;  Bowdoin  Square,  twenty-seven ;  Federal  Street,  twenty- 
•  eight ;  Boylston  Street,  twenty-four ;  Charles  Street,  six ;  Independent, 
nineteen.  Notwithstanding  these  results,  the  "  New  England  Puritan  " 
ridicules  the  labors  of  Mr.  Knapp,  saying,  "  The  operations  after  the 
sermons  are  more  objectionable  than  anything  in  the  sermons  them- 
selves." Calling  forward  to  the  anxious  seat  is  characterized  by  declar- 
ing that  "  the  congregation  is  put  into  a  rambling  state  and  some  fifteen 
minutes  of  confusion."  "  Against  such  machinery,  so  productive  of 
wholesale  delusion,  so  destructive  to  the  modesty  becoming  women  and 
children,  and  so  calculated  to  lead  all  impenitent  men  to  the  conclusion 
that  religion  is  promoted  by  trick  and  artifice,  we  feel  bound -to  enter 
our  solemn  protest ;  "  and  all  this  because  Mr.  Knapp,  at  the  conclusion 
of  the  sermon,  was  accustomed  to  come  down  from  the  pulpit  and  exhort 
the  impenitent  to  come  to  Christ,  and  converts  to  tell  what  God  had 
done  for  their  souls.  The  third  week  of  March  closed  his  labors  in 
Boston,  with  the  blessings  of  thousands  ready  to  perish  resting  upon 
him,  and  following  him  to  Lowell,  his  next  field  of  labor. 

"  In  accordance  with  the  request  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Boston,  he 
repeated  the  Temperance  Sermon  in  Marlboro'  Chapel,  which,  two  years 
before,  in  Baltimore,  led  to  the  reformation  of  J.  H.  W.  Hawkins,  and 
initiated  the  Washingtonian  reform.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  address, 
all  who  had  signed  the  total  abstinence  pledge,  or  were  determined  to 
sign  it,  were  asked  to  rise ;  and  the  whole  of  that  immense  assemblage 
sprang  to  their  feet.  It  was  a  thrilling  scene,  and  proved  the  potency 
of  the  religion  of  Christ  to  promote  a  spirit  of  reform. 

"  The  time  of  his  sojourn  drew  to  a  close.  In  the  '  Reflector '  of 
March  23  there  was  a  description  of  the  closing  scenes.  '  The  mornings 
of  Thursday  and  Friday,  March  17  and  18,  were  occupied  with  meetings 
devoted  to  expressions  of  gratitude .  for  the  distinguishing  mercies  of 
Heaven.  These  meetings  were  full  of  interest.  Thursday  evening  he 
preached  to  converts  in  Bowdoin  Square.  Friday  afternoon  he  preached 
to  Christians  at  Baldwin  Place;  and  though  it  was  a  week  day,  and  in 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  137 

the  hurry  of  spring,  such  was  the  enthusiasm,  that  every  standing  place 
in  the  house  was  taken,  and  multitudes  went  away.  In  the  evening  he 
preached  to  the  impenitent  at  Bowdoin  Square,  and  the  solemn  service 
was  concluded  with  the  parting  and  farewell  of  those  parties  who  had 
labored  with  him.'" 

"  This  was  a  most  wonderful  period  in  denominational  history.  The 
laity  that  upheld  the-  hands  of  the  ministry  were  unsurpassed  in  char- 
acter, in  talent,  and  in  devotion.  Every  church  was  strong,  because 
each  church  might,  like  the  Sultan  of  the  East,  point  to  her  stalwart 
men  as  the  walls  of  her  defence  and  the  implements  of  conquest.  It 
was  at  this  period  Daniel  Safford  introduced  Rev.  E.  N.  Kirk,  D.  D.,  to 
Boston.  It  was  a  remarkable  happen-so,  even  if  it  were  a  happen-so, 
that  Mr.  Kirk  followed  Mr.  Knapp  so  frequently.  One  was  the  John 
the  Baptist,  preaching  repentance,  and  the  other  was  the  reaper.  One 
was  the  blacksmith,  the  other  the  silversmith.  Said  Dr.  Kirk,  'I 
delighted  to  follow  Mr.  Knapp,  because  he  stirred  the  conscience,  and 
made  a  great  number  ready  to  listen  to  the  truth,  presented  in  a  milder 
form.  They  were  too  mad  to  hear  him,  they  were  under  too  deep  con- 
viction to  rest  content ;  so,  many  gladly  came  to  listen  to  me  who  might 
have  gone,  unmoved,  to  perdition,  had  it  not  been  for  the  sledge- 
hammer style  of  Mr.  Knapp,'  For  this  reason  he  followed  him,  in 
Baltimore,  in  New  Haven,  and  in  Boston." 
11 


138  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

ACCOUNTS  OF  PKOTKACTED  MEETINGS. 
(CONTINUED.) 

LOWELL  :  A  Universalist  Covenant  Meeting.  —  A  Cotton  Mill  an 
Inquiry-Boom.  —  Fifteen  Hundred  Converts.  —  A  Challenge  to 
Universalists.  —  Its  Acceptance,  and  the  Result.  —  Physical  Exhaus- 
tion.—  An  Aged  Convert.  —  A  Farewell  Scene.  —  An  Infidel  Ob- 
server. CONCORD  :  Excitement  among  Christians  and  among 
Scoffers.  —  An  Illustration.  —  Conversion  of  a  Universalist  Preacher. 
—  Penitent  Scoffers.  —  A  Refusal  to  baptize.  —  Regrets.  —  Baptist 
Influence.  —  The  Second  Advent.  —  Statement  of  E.  E.  Cummings. 

LOWELL. 

I  CLOSED  my  meetings  in  Boston  on  one  night,  and  began 
my  meeting  in  Lowell  on  the  next.     The  wonderful  work 
of  God  in  Boston  prepared  the  minds  of  the  people  in  this  neigh- 
boring  city  to    expect  a  similar  manifestation  of  the  Divine 
Presence  among  them. 

The  Universalists  took  the  alarm  from  the  start ;  and  even 
before  I  arrived,  their  congregation  had  been  convened,  and 
asked  to  pledge  themselves  that  they  would  not  go  to  hear  me 
preach  at  all.  Since  they  expected  to  get  to  heaven  by  lying 
as  easily  as  by  praying,  their  pledges  did  not  hold  good.  I  was 
no  sooner  on  the  ground  than  they  went  to  hear  me  in  great 
numbers. 

The  Lord  came  down  in  power,  and  the  work  rolled  on 
mightily.  It  very  soon  assumed  such  vast  proportions  that  in 
one  of  the  cotton  mills  the  superintendent,  who  was  a  Univer- 
salist, found  it  necessary  to  stop  operations.  The  operatives 
were  nearly  all  on  their  knees,  in  prayer  for  themselves,  or  for 
their  unconverted  associates.  In  fact,  the  entire  factory  was  an 
anxious-room. 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  139 

It  was  afterwards  estimated  that  about  fifteen  hundred  were 
converted,  as  the  result  of  this  meeting  of  five  weeks.  The 
interest  was  shared  among  Methodists,  Cougregationalists,  and 
Episcopalians,  as  well  as  Baptists,  and  all  reaped  largely  of  its 
benefits. 

At  the  close  of  one  of  my  sermons,  I  remember  calling  upon 
all  in  the  congregation  who  were  willing  to  live  and  die  by 
Universalism,  and  risk  their  eternal  all  upon  it,  to  rise  up.  One 
woman  arose ;  but  fear  seized  hold  of  her  while  she  stood ;  a 
sense  of  her  awful  temerity  overwhelmed  her.  She  sank  down 
on  her  seat,  convicted  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  Shortly  after- 
wards she  confessed  her  sins,  renounced  her  errors,  and  became 
a  believer  in  Jesus  as  her  only  refuge. 

During  this  meeting  I  found  myself  greatly  reduced  in 
strength.  I  had  been  preaching  twice  a  day,  for  two  weeks,  in 
Providence ;  from  thence  I  had  gone  directly  to  Boston,  and 
there  had  preached  twice  and  three  times  a  day,  besides  attend- 
ing inquiry-meetings,  for  the  space  of  three  months ;  and  had 
gone  thence,  without  intermission,  to  enter  upon  a  similar  siege 
in  Lowell.  In  this  way  I  had  spent  nearly  seven  months  in 
unceasing  toil,  taxing  my  physical  and  mental  powers  to  the 
utmost.  Towards  the  close  of  my  labors  here,  I  would  go  from 
the  pulpit  to  the  lounge,  and  from  the  lounge  to  the  pulpit ;  and 
yet,  though  growing  consciously  weaker  every  day,  I  was  enabled 
to  preach,  apparently  with  as  much  effectiveness  as  ever. 

Among  those  who  came  forward  for  prayers  was  an  old  man, 
of  over  seventy  years  of  age,  who  stated  that  he  had  been 
brought  up  in  "  the  land  of  steady  habits,"  had  lived  a  moral 
life,  and  had  depended  on  his  morality  for  the  salvation  of  his 
soul.  Now  his  eyes  were  opened  ;  he  saw  his  guilt  and  danger, 
but  could  see  no  remedy,  and  felt  that  he  must  be  lost.  Days 
passed,  and  he  found  no  relief.  He  had  not  as  yet  summoned 
strength  to  make  the  first  attempt  to  pray;  finally  he  was 
induced  to  kneel,  and  call  on  God  to  have  mercy  on  him,  for 
the  sake  of  Jesus.  Christ  appeared  to  him,  in  the  greatness 
and  fulness  of  his  redeeming  love,  and  his  soul  was  brought 


140  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

into  the  liberty  of  the  gospel.  "When  he  went  down  intj  the 
baptismal  waters,  he  walked  with  the  sprightliness  of  youth ; 
and  coming  up  out  of  the  water,  "  he  went  on  his  way 
rejoicing." 

When  I  came  to  take  my  departure  from  the  place,  the 
people  flocked  in  crowds  around  me,  each  eager  to  give  me  a 
farewell  grasp  pf  the  hand.  The  throng  became  so  great  that 
the  track  was  blockaded,  and  the  cars  were  unable  to  venture  a 
start,  lest  they  should  crush  the  people  who  were  crowding 
about  them.  As  fast  as  the  track  was  cleared  in  one  place,  it  was 
covered  in  another  by  the  surging  crowd  ;  and  yet  the  greatest 
order  and  decorum  prevailed.  The  air  resounded  with  the 
songs  of  the  rejoicing  and  weeping  multitudes. 

An  infidel,  who  had  not  attended  the  meeting,  riding  along 
on  horseback,  looking  on  the  scene,  seemed  to  hear  a  voice, 
saying  to  him.  "  Behold  how  these  Christians  love  one  another." 
"  How  good  and  how  pleasant  it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell  to- 
gether in  unity."  He  trembled,  and  had  he  not  held  on  to  his 
horse's  mane,  would  have  fallen  to  the  ground.  He  went  home, 
asked  for  the  prayers  of  God's  children,  and  was  converted 
to  God. 

CONCORD. 

In  September,  1842, 1  commenced  meeting  in  Concord,  N.  H. 
The  Baptist  church  was  then  under  the  pastoral  care  of  brother 
Cummings.  The  interest  rose  quite  rapidly,  and  went  on  with 
increasing  power  for  some  six  weeks.  The  excitement  became 
intense.  The  Universalists,  Unitarians,  and  infidels  became 
wild  with  the  excitement  of  denouncing  our  excitement.  A 
shrewd  infidel  had  published  an  article  before  my  arrival,  in 
which  he  predicted  that  "  Knapp  would  whip  them  all  out ; " 
and  the  reason  he  assigned  was,  that  they  "  had  no  hell  in  their 
creeds."  While  this  outcry  against  our  meetings  was  at  its 
height,  I  gave  the  people  an  account  of  an  occurrence  which 
took  place  in  their  own  community,  illustrating  the  propriety  of 
strong  excitement  on  the  part  of  those  who  believe  in  the  truth  of 
Christianity.  A  short  time  before  I  had  commenced  the  meet- 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  141 

ing,  the  beloved  son  of  the  Unitarian  minister  had  met  death 
under  circumstances  peculiarly  distressing.  During  his  vacation 
from  college,  he,  together  with  several  of  his  companions,  had 
repaired  to  the  Merrimac  River  in  order  to  bathe  ;  shortly  after- 
wards one  of  them  came  back,  running  with  the  utmost  speed,  with 
the  cry  that  the  minister's  son  had  plunged  into  the  river,  and  had 
not  risen  to  the  surface.  The  father,  with  all  possible  speed,  has- 
tened to  the  spot,  screaming  along  the  way,  "  Help,  help,  help  ! " 
and  stripping  off  his  coat,  leaped  into  the  stream,  diving  now  in 
one  place  and  then  in  another,  until  he  came  in  contact  with  the 
body  of  his  drowned  boy.  Seizing  it,  he  brought  it  to  the 
shore,  and  instantly  physicians  and  friends  were  eager  in  their 
attempts  to  resuscitate  animation.  But  all  was  in  vain.  In 
the  mean  time  the  news  had  spread  like  wildfire,  and  the  people 
from  their  dwellings,  schools,  stores,  and  workshops  had  rushed 
to  the  scene  of  the  disaster.  Sympathy  and  anxiety  were 
depicted  in  every  face ;  and  as  the  wails  of  the  agonized  family 
broke  on  their  ears,  stout  hearts  beat  thick  and  fast,  and  eyes 
unused  to  tears,  were  suffused  with  signs  of  genuine  sorrow. 
All  sorts  of  business,  for  that  day,  were  banished  from  every 
mind.  In  short,  the  whole  town  was  wild  with  excitement.  I 
used  this  fact  as  the  basis  of  an  appeal  to  the  congregation. 
Who  would  presume  to  say  that  these  manifestations  of  excited 
feeling  were  not  justifiable?  I  do  not  say  excusable,  but  de- 
manded by  the  exigency  of  the  case  ?  What  would  have  been 
thought  of  any  one,  if,  during  the  prevalence  of  this  intense 
omotion,  he  had  gone  among  the  excited  crowds  with  the  sneer 
of  a  cynic  on  his  lips,  had  ridiculed  this  ebullition  as  a  ridicu- 
lous excitement,  and  denounced  the  anguish  of  the  smitten 
parents  as  the  ravings  of  insanity,  and  the  tears  of  the  sympa- 
thizing throng  as  the  snivellings  of  folly?  Such  a  man  would 
have  been  looked  upon  as  a  cold-blooded  wretch,  whose  only 
impulse  was  the  malignant  misanthropy  of  a  devil.  O,  then, 
what  more  reason  for  excitement  on  the  part  of  those  who  real- 
ize the  lost  condition  of  their  fellow-men,  and  view  them  sinking 
into  the  depths  of  an  endless  hell !  All  seemed  not  only  speech- 
less, but  for  the  moment  breathless. 


142  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

While  I  was  conducting  this  meeting,  the  Universalists  were 
busily  engaged  in  completing  their  meeting-house  they  were 
specially  excited,  lest  everybody  would  be  converted  before  they 
had  got  it  ready  for  use.  One  day,  while  two  of  their  leading 
men  were  talking  about  forming  themselves  into  an  organized 
church,  one  of  them  said,  "  When  we  form  our  church  you 
shall  be  one  of  the  deacons,  and  I  will  be  the  other.  I  swear 
I  will."  In  one  of  my  sermons  I  repeated  this  conversation 
before  the  whole  congregation.  The  next  day  the  Universalist 
minister,  with  one  of  their  prominent  men,  called  on  brother 
Cummings  and  myself,  to  remonstrate  with  us  for  u  abusing 
them."  We  received  them  kindly,  and  after  a  very  brief  con- 
versation, I  proposed  that  we  spend  a  season  in  prayer.  I 
called  on  each  of  them  to  pray,  but  they  both  refused.  Thea 
brother  Cummings  prayed,  and  I  followed.  Like  Felix  of  old, 
they  both  trembled.  The  minister  came  out,  publicly  renounced 
his  errors,  professed  conversion,  and  united  with  the  Presby- 
terian church. 

On  one  evening,  while  the  anxious  were  coming  forward  for 
prayers,  my  eye  caught  sight  of  a  tall,  fine-looking  gentleman, 
who  was  standing  near  the  door.  He  seemed  to  be  looking  on 
the  scene  with  an  apparent  air  of  mingled  contempt  and  de- 
fiance. I  said  to  myself,  "  I  should  like  to  see  your  proucl 
knees  bend  at  the  feet  of  Jesus."  I  stepped  up  to  him,  and  asked 
him  if  he  would  take  a  seat  among  the  inquirers  ?  He  replied 
that  he  had  "  no  objection,"  and  at  once  went  forward,  asking 
me,  at  the  same  time,  to  pray  especially  for  him  —  call  him 
out  by  name.  I  learned  that  he  was  the  son  of  Governor  H., 
and  the  editor  of  one  of  the  political  papers  in  the  town.  I 
bowed  in  prayer,  requesting  all  to  unite  with  me  at  the  mercy- 
seat  (for,  what  he  meant  in  sport,  we  meant  in  earnest). 
When  we  rose  from  our  knees,  the  sweat  was  rolling  off"  of  him 
like  rain,  and  his  knees  smote  together  like  Belshazzar's.  The 
moment  the  benediction  was  pronounced,  he  shot  out  of  the 
door  and  disappeared.  On  the  next  morning  he  came  into  the 
prayer-meeting,  and  stated  that,  while  prayer  was  being  offered 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  143 

for  him  on  the  preceding  night,  his  sins  rose  up  before  him  like 
mountains  ;  he  realized  the  necessity  of  meeting  the  great  ques- 
tion of  his  salvation  immediately.  Instead  of  joining  his  com- 
rades, and  repairing  to  a  saloon,  to  drink  champagne,  as  he 
had  been  in  the  habit  of  doing,  he  hastened  at  once  to  his  room, 
and  locked  the  door.  He  felt  that  the  crisis  moment  had  come, 
and  that  if  he  yielded  that  night  to  the  convivial  overtures  of 
his  companions,  the  Spirit  of  God  would  leave  him,  and  his 
damnation  would  be  sealed.  He  had  been  spending  the  night  in 
prayer,  and  he  had  come  into  the  meeting  to  say  that  "  another 
day  was  dawning."  He  had  made  a  full  surrender  of  his  heart 
to  Christ,  and  was  now  rejoicing  in  the  hope  of  pardon  and 
eternal  life. 

After  making  this  statement,  he  turned  to  Squire  B.,  a 
young  lawyer,  who  edited  the  other  paper,  and  an  intimate 
friend  of  Mr.  H.,  and  entreated  him  to  go  forward  for  prayers. 
He  arose  at  once,  and  took  his  seat  among  the  inquirers.  He 
then  beckoned  to  me,  and  offering  me  a  five-dollar  bill,  said  he 
had  a  confession  to  make.  I  said  to  him,  "  I  do  not  want  your 
money,  but  your  soul."  He  replied,  that  he  had  stated  in  his 
paper  that  I  "  was  preaching  for  money,"  knowing  better  when 
he  said  it.  He  insisted  that  it  would  be  a  relief  to  his  feelings 
if  I  would  accept  his  overture.  Lest  he  should .  think  I  was 
needlessly  sensitive,  I  yielded  to  his  request.  I  then  bowed 
in  prayer.  Very  soon  he  made  a  surrender  of  his  soul  to  the 
sceptre  of  Christ. 

The  conversion  of  these  young  men  introduced  the  subject 
of  personal  religion  into  a  large  circle  of  the  leading  families 
of  the  place.  Many  of  this  class  were  led  to  indulge  hopes  of 
salvation.  I  was  waited  upon  by  three  or  four  of  these  persons, 
and  informed  that  some  twelve  or  fourteen  of  their  number 
wished  me  to  immerse  them,  with  the  understanding  that  they 
intended  to  join  the  Episcopal  church.  I  endeavored  to  con- 
vince them  that  it  would  be  better  for  them  and  their  influence 
if  they  would  join  a  church  whose  sentiments  on  this  subject 
harmonized  with  their  own  convictions.  They  inferred  that 


114  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

I  .did  not  wisli  to  immerse  them,  except  on  condition  of  their 
uniting  with  a  Baptist  church  ;  and  they  finally  submitted  to  the 
ceremony  of  sprinkling  at  the  hands  of  the  Episcopal  minister. 
I  have  always  regretted  that  I  did  not  yield  to  their  request. 
If  I  had  immersed  them,  I  should  have  helped  them  to  per- 
form the  initiatory  and  symbolic  rite  required  by  Christ  of 
his  disciples,  and  have  devolved  the  responsibility  of  their  future 
associations  on  their  own  consciences.  Their  influence,  even 
though  indirect,  would  nevertheless  have  been  more  in  favor  of 
the  true  baptism,  and  their  own  minds  would  have  been  satisfied 
that  they  had  at  least  obeyed  the  Savior's  first  command,  and 
had  symbolized  the  great  truths  that  make  distinctive  and  glori- 
ous the  Christian  system,  namely,  death  to  sin,  and  resurrec- 
tion to  newness  of  life ;  faith  in  a  buried  and  risen  Redeemer, 
and  a  hope  of  a  blessed  resurrection  from  the  dead.* 

I  am  unable  to  state  the  number  of  those  who  were  converted 
or  baptized  as  the  result  of  this  meeting.  But  all  the  churches 
received  numerous  accessions.  Before  this,  the  Baptist  cause 
had  been  weak.  There  was  only  one  church,  and  that  a  small 
one.  Soon  afterwards  a  second  church  was  formed,  and  brother 
Cummings  became  its  pastor,  and  continued  such  until  quite 
recently  (1867).  Very  many  in  this  town  had  never  wit- 
nessed the  administration  of  a  primitve  baptism ;  and  as  they 
stood  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  and  saw  score  after  score  buried 
in  the  likeness  of  the  Savior's  death,  they  were  constrained 
to  acknowledge  the  beauty  and  scriptural  simplicity  of  the 
ordinance. 

About  this  time  there  prevailed  throughout  New  England 
great  excitement  concerning  the  second  coming  of  Christ. 
Brother  Miller  sincerely  believed  that  the  world  would  come 
to  an  end,  and  that  the  Savior  would  appear  in  personal  glory 
some  time  during  the  year  1843.  He  was  going  from  place  to 
place  proclaiming  his  views,  and  many  good  people  adopted 

*  Christ  has  commissioned  his  ministers  to  baptize  men,  on  condition 
of  their  faith  in  him ;  not  on  condition  of  their  joining  a  Baptist  church, 
and  conforming  to  all  its  usages  of  polity  and  worship. 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  145 

them.  In  some  cases  the  peace  of  the  churches  was  disturbed 
by  reason  of  divisions  on  this  question.  The  believers  in  this 
new  doctrine  of  the  special  and  immediate  time  in  which  Christ 
would  appear,  were  very  zealous  in  asserting  their  convictions 
in  all  the  church  meetings,  and  making  demands  on  the  ministers 
to  preach  the  doctrine.  In  lukewarm  churches  this  pertinacity 
of  zeal  was  resisted  and  resented  with  acerbity  ;  but  where  the 
Spirit  of  Grod  was  enjoyed,  those  brethren  who  did  not  adopt 
the  view,  were  nevertheless  willing  that  those  who  did  might 
sing,  and  pray,  and  talk  about  the  coming  of  Christ  without 
hinderance.  The  subject  itself  is  a  glorious  one  at  all  times,  and 
the  errors  as  to  date,  though  deplored,  were  not  allowed  to  be- 
come a  root  of  bitterness. 

I  was  accustomed  to  dispose  of  all  approaches  on  this  subject 
in  my  meeting,  as  I  did  in  theirs,  by  reminding  the  people  that 
the  spiritual  presence  of  Christ  was  an  existing  fact,  and  one 
which  they  could  all  enjoy  at  present,  and  was  more  desirable 
than  simply  his  corporeal  presence,  under  the  circumstances  in 
which  we  were  placed.  Were  he  to  come  in  person,  all  oppor- 
tunity Tor  repentance  would  be  at  an  end  ;  and  that  it  was  of  the 
utmost  importance  that  all  Christians  labor  with  all  their  might 
to  bring  sinners  into  the  ark  of  salvation,  especially  as  they 
believed  they  saw  "  the  day  approaching." 

So  far  from  being  annoyed  by  the  presence  of  these  people,  I 
found  them  of  much  service.  They  formed  themselves  into 
singing  clubs,  and  they  would  sing  and  pray  with  great  earnest- 
ness. A  number  of  them  accompanied  me  from  Concord  to 
Boston,  singing  in  the  cars  on  their  way. 

These  were  golden  days,  sunny  spots,  heavenly  seasons. 
The  memory  of  them  is  precious ;  and  the  recollection  of  them 
will  be  among  my  unspeakable  joys  when  I  shall  have  passed 
over  Jordan. 

My  dear  brother  Cummings  has  furnished  an  account  of  this 
meeting,  which  I  take  pleasure  in  subjoining  to  mine :  — 

"  The  first  century  after  the  settlement  of  Concord  was  not 
marked  by  any  very  extensive  revivals.  During  most  of  this 


146  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

period  the  '  standing  order '  held  almost  undisputed  possession  ; 
there  was  but  one  church,  and  one  place  of  meeting. 

"  The  Baptist  church  came  into  existence  in  a  very  feeble 
condition,  and  for  nearly  ten  years  held  meetings  in  school- 
houses,  remote  from  the  centre  of  the  town.  At  length  a  house 
of  worship  was  built  in  a  most  favorable  location  ;  and  though 
the  church  was  then  feeble,  it  continued  gradually  to  increase, 
and  enjoyed,  in  the  mean  time,  some  most  precious  revivals. 
But  the  Baptists  had  not  a  commanding  influence  in  the  town. 
The  state  of  religion,  and  the  position  of  the  Baptist  church, 
rendered  the  labors  of  an  evangelist  both  desirable  and  hope- 
ful. In  the  winter  of  1841-2  my  people  enjoyed  a  very  precious 
revival,  and  the  Spirit  continued  in  the  church  through  the 
season. 

"  Rev.  Jacob  Knapp  commenced  his  labors  in  Concord,  Sep- 
tember 14, 1842.  My  people,  I  believe,  were  in  a  good  degree 
prepared  to  enter  into  the  work,  and  the  community  at  large 
were  anxious  to  hear  the  man  about  whom  so  much  had  been 
said.  Our  meetings  were  full  from  the  first,  and  inquirers 
began  to  multiply.  The  meetings  continued  every  afternoon 
and  evening  for  six  weeks.  The  work  spread  through  my 
entire  congregation,  leaving  but  one  family  unblessed.  It  also 
extended  through  the  entire  town,  including  many  in  each  con- 
gregation, and  some  who  were  not  connected  with  any  religious 
society. 

"  Indeed,  the  whole  community  was  shaken  ;  and  persons  who 
were  supposed  to  be  the  farthest  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
were  brought  to  bow  at  the  foot  of  the  cross.  Some  rum-sellers 
came  forward,  and  confessed  their  deeds,  and  gave  up  the 
nefarious  traffic.  The  Universalist  minister  first  attempted  to 
ease  his  conscience  by  submitting  to  the  ordinance  of  baptism 
in  a  distant  town ;  but  afterwards  renounced  his  heresies,  pro- 
fessed to  be  converted,  and  united  with  the  Congregational 
church.  There  were  some  very  interesting  cases  of  conversions, 
among  which  was  a  young  lawyer,  of  marked  ability,  who  gave 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  147 

very  clear  evidences  of  a  change,  and  who,  now  in  the  midst  of 
worldly  distinctions,  still  retains  the  hope  he  then  cherished. 

"  The  work  spread  through  all  the  regions.  Persons  attended 
the  meeting  from  adjoining  towns,  and  returned  filled  with  the 
Spirit,  and  God  worked  through  them  in  the  communities 
where  they  belonged.  Almost  every  church  in  the  association 
was  revived,  and  had  large  accessions  to  their  number. 

"  It  was  estimated  that  over  five  hundred  were  converted  dur- 
ing the  meeting ;  of  whom  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  united 
with  the  Baptist  church,  and  about  two  hundred  with  all  the  other 
churches  in  town.  Brother  Knapp  preached  the  plain,  simple 
gospel  —  "  Jesus  Christ,  and  him  crucified."  There  was  nothing 
in  the  doctrine  or  illustration  to  which  I  could  object.  There 
was  constant  reference  to  our  dependence  on  divine  influence. 
This  was  the  key-note  in  the  closet,  in  the  family,  in  the  in- 
quiry-meeting, and  in  the  pulpit.  God's  power  was  sought,  and 
it  was  manifested  from  beginning  to  end.  It  was  a  gracious 
display  of  matchless  grace ;  and  I  can  bear  witness  to  the 
endurance  of  the  fruits.  It  is  true  some  went  back,  and  walked 
no  more  with  Jesus ;  but  many  have  gone  home  to  glory,  and 
many  remain  to  bless  the  church  of  Christ  to  this  day. 

"  As  the  results  of  the  meeting,  the  church  was  enlarged  and 
strengthened,  secured  a  commanding  influence  in  the  town, 
and  in  eleven  years  after  this  meeting  a  colony  went  out  from 
the  church,  built  a  new  church  edifice,  and  are  enjoying  a  good 
degree  of  prosperity.  The  Baptists  now  have  two  churches,  ia 
a  good  condition,  and  have  as  much  influence  among  the  people 
as  any  denomination  in  the  city ;  and  the  protracted  meeting  in 
1842,  under  God,  had  much  to  do  in  giving  them  this  standing. 
To  Him  be  all  the  praise." 


148  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 


CHAPTER     XV. 

ACCOUNTS    OF  PROTRACTED    MEETINGS. 
(CONTINUED.) 

SALEM  and  MARBLEHEAD  :  Enlargement.  —  Conflict  over  a  Soul.  — 
A  Universalist  Prayer-Meeting.  —  Leaving  Town.  —  WASHINGTON  : 
A  small  Band.  —  Cooperation.  —  Dance-Hall.  —  Pro- Slavery.  —  A 
remarkable  Conversion.  —  College  Students.  —  E  Street  Church.  — 
RICHMOND  :  Conditional  Invitation.  —  Respect  for  Ministers.  — 
An  unhealthy  Piety.  —  Slavery  Abominations.  —  A  Slave  Prayer- 
Meeting,  and  Bloodhounds.  —  Remonstrance.  —  Departure. 

SALEM  AND  MAKBLEHEAD. 

ABOUT  the  beginning  of  the  year  1843,  I  commenced  my 
labors  with  the  Second  Baptist  church  in  Salem,  Mass., 
of  which  brother  Banvard  was  pastor.  The  house  of  worship 
soon  became  too  small  for  us.  The  First  Baptist  church  was 
unwilling  to  open  their  doors  to  me,  so  that  we  were  compelled 
to  go  to  a  public  hall.  At  once  this  place  became  thronged. 
In  a  marvellous  manner  did  God  display  the  power  of  his  grace. 
Hundreds  on  hundreds  professed  conversion,  embracing  persons 
of  every  class  and  condition :  men,  women,  and  children,  rich 
and  poor,  high  and  low,  all  came  together  under  the  common 
impulse  of  a  desire  for  salvation. 

I  spent  a  portion  of  the  time  at  Marblehead,  preaching  there 
in  the  morning  at  half  past  nine  o'clock,  and  returning  in  time 
to  preach  in  the  afternoon  and  evening  at  Salem.  I  conducted 
the  inquiry-meetings  as  usual. 

At  Marblehead  a  hardened  Universalist  came  forward  for 
prayers,  weeping,  and  begging  for  mercy.  He  continued  all 
night  in  distress.  His  old  Universalist  friends  came  in  to  aliay 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  149 

his  fears,  and  dissuade  him  from  his  anxiety,  but  all  was  to  no 
purpose  :  the  load  of  sins  weighed  down  his  soul  in  grief.  In 
the  mean  time  he  was  visited  by  some  Christian  friends,  who 
prayed  with  him  and  for  him.  Thus  it  seemed  as  if  the  con- 
flicting agencies  of  good  and  evil  were  set  to  secure  possession 
of  his  soul.  One  company  was  striving  to  save  him  from 
destruction,  the  other  to  compass  his  destruction.  But  towards 
morning  judgment  came  forth  unto  victory ;  the  prayers  of 
saints,  the  sympathies  of  angels,  and  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord, 
prevailed  over  the  combined  assaults  of  wicked  men,  lost  spirits, 
and  the  arch-fiend.  The  man  found  peace  in  believing,  and 
shouted  aloud,  and  gave  glory  to  God. 

Many  Universalists  were  converted  during  this  meeting.  The 
minister  and  many  of  his  members  became  alarmed,  and,  to 
save  their  sinking  ship,  they  opened  a  prayer  and  conference- 
meeting.  They  invited  everybody,  of  all  denominations,  to  come 
and  take  part,  and  feel  free  to  express  their  views  on  the  sub- 
ject o'f  religion.  Among  those  who  responded,  was  a  man  who 
was  under  powerful  conviction.  He  rose  up  to  express  his  feel- 
ings ;  he  confessed  his  sins,  and  invited  others  to  seek  the  Lord 
with  him.  While  he  was  yet  speaking,  the  burden  of  guilt  was 
rolled  from  his  heart,  the  love  of  God  filled  him  with  joy  in- 
describable, and  he  began  to  speak  forth,  with  such  thrilling 
eloquence,  that  he  was  soon  requested  to  take  his  seat.  He 
reminded  them  of  their  unlimited  invitation  to  all  to  come  and 
speak  what  was  in  their  hearts ;  but  they  persisted  in  their 
purpose  to  silence  him,  and  finally  put  him  out  of  the  house. 
Many  others,  indignant  at  this  treatment,  followed  him,  came 
over  to  our  meeting,  and  found  salvation.  In  this  instance 
Satan  cast  out  Satan. 

The  whole  city  of  Salem  was  shaken  by  the  power  of  God. 
Bar-rooms,  ball-alleys,  and  haunts  of  vice  were  deserted,  and 
those  who  had  frequented  them  turned  their  feet  to  the  place  of 
prayer,  and  sought  and  found  salvation. 

When  the  time  came  for  my  departure,  a  company  of  Chris- 
tians chartered  a  train  of  cars  and  accompanied  me  to  Boston, 


150  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

Immense  crowds  from  the  city  and  the  regions  round  about 
gathered  around  the  depot,  covered  the  track,  and  blocked  up 
the  cars.  All  the  adjoining  streets  were  thronged  with  a  sea 
of  human  beings.  An  hour  was  spent  in  attempts  to  clear  the 
track,  and  the  voice  of  singing  and  of  prayer  resounded  through 
the  air.  In  this  way  we  continued  our  journey.  On  reaching 
Boston,  I  made  a  few  farewell  remarks.  Amid  many  tears  and 
parting  greetings  I  turned  from  them,  they  and  I  weeping 
because  we  might  never  see  each  other's  faces  again ;  and 
joying,  because  very  soon  we  should  meet  where 

"  No  farewell  sound  is  ever  heard, 
Not  e'en  the  word  Good-bye." 

As  soon  as  I  reentered  the  cars  for  Providence  I  took  my 
seat  in  a  corner,  closed  my  eyes,  and  gave  myself  up  to  the 
ecstasy  of  silent  prayer  and  praise  to  God. 

WASHINGTON. 

Near  the  close  of  the  year  1843, 1  was  invited  by  a  little  band 
of  brethren  and  sisters  in  Washington,  D.C.,  consisting  of  eleven 
persons,  —  eight  women  and  three  men,  —  who  had  formed 
themselves  into  a  church,  to  hold  a  series  of  meetings  with 
them.  The  only  other  Baptist  church  was  a  small,  inefficient 
affair,  exerting  no  moral  power  in  the  community. 

This  small  company  hired  a  hall,  agreeing  to  pay  one  hundred 
dollars  per  month  for  the  use  of  it,  with  the  understanding  that 
we  were  to  vacate  it  two  evenings  in  every  week,  on  which 
nights  it  was  engaged  for  holding  balls.  M.  B.  Anderson, 
now  President  of  Rochester  University,  was  then  acting  as  their 
pulpit  supply.  He  continued  with  me  nearly  through  my  meet- 
ings, but  was  at  length  compelled  to  return  to  his  studies.  Dr. 
Chapin  and  Professor  Douglass,  of  Columbian  College,  took  a 
deep  interest  in  the  work.  Some  Christians  of  other  denomina- 
tions came  in,  and  lent  a  helping  hand. 

This  dance-hall  proved  to  be  well  adapted  to  our  purposes  ; 
the  side-rooms  served  us  for  holding  female,  inquiry,  and 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  151 

young  people's  meetings.  The  Spirit  of  God  soon  began  to 
move  on  the  souls  of  men,  and  the  hall  itself  seemed  to  be 
pervaded  with  the  divine  presence.  We  had  to  vacate  it  two 
nights  for  the  service  of  the  devil,  but  the  balls  proved  miserable 
failures.  One  lady,  who  had  paid  three  hundred  dollars  for  a 
dress  to  wear  on  one  of  these  occasions,  said  that  she  was  never 
so  wretched  in  all  her  life  as  on  that  night.  The  managers 
called  on  the  proprietors,  and  told  them  that  if  they  did  not  get 
Knapp  out  of  the  hall  they  would  never  hire  it  again.  But 
our  brethren  had  taken  the  precaution  to  secure,  in  writing,  a 
lease  for  a  given  time,  and  in  this  case  the  children  of  light 
were  wiser  than  the  children  of  this  world.  We  had  got  the 
start  of  the  devil,  and  we  kept  in  the  advance.  During  the  two 
evenings  in  which  we  were  out  of  the  hall,  we  were  invited  to 
occupy  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  did  so.  By  this  means 
we  gained  new  recruits,  and  gathered  increased  strength  to  re- 
new the  battle  on  the  devil's  ground. 

After  I  got  well  under  way,  I  came  out  against  the  sin  of 
slavery  ;  denounced  it  as  an  institution  of  the  devil ;  and  advocated 
the  equality  and  universality  of  human  rights.  Dr.  Chapin  called 
upon  me,  and  tried  to  dissuade  me  from  alluding  to  "  the 
peculiar  institution ;  "  and  informed  me  that  if  he  had  known 
I  was  going  to  preach  against  slavery,  he  would  not  have 
given  me  his  influence  ;  that  it  would  not  have  been  safe  for 
himself,  nor  for  the  college,  nor  for  the  church.  I  replied  that 
I  could  not  help  it ;  he  must  pursue  such  a  course  as  he  thought 
duty  required,  but  that  I  should  not,  and  could  not,  change  my 
course.  I  was  bound  to  preach  up  Christ,  and  preach  down  the 
devil. 

Happily  the  work  had,  by  this  time,  come  to  such  a  pitch, 
and  gone  on  to  such  an  extent,  that  the  doctor  did  not  dare  to 
set  his  influence  against  it ;  nor  would  it  have  availed  if  he 
had,  for  it  was  not  in  the  power  of  all  the  pro-slavery  D.  D.'s, 
nor  of  all  the  devils  in  hell,  to  stop  the  mighty  tide  of  salvation 
which  was  then  sweeping  through  the  city. 

One  man,  who  had  prosecuted  a  gentleman  from  New  England 


152  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

for  having  an  anti-slavery  tract  in  his  trunk,  and  cast  him  into 
prison,  where  he  took  cold  and  died,  came  forward  for  prayers. 
He  was  in  great  distress  of  mind.  A  number  of  us  continued 
in  prayer  for  him,  though  at  first  the  idea  of  such  a  man  being 
converted  taxed  our  faith  ;  nevertheless,  we  knew  he  belonged 
to  the  human  family,  and  that  Christ  had  died  for  even  such  as 
he.  And,  sure  enough,  he  gave  us  hopeful  signs  that  he  became 
truly  penitent  and  believing  ! 

Several  of  the  students  in  the  college  were  brought  under  the 
power  of  the  gospel ;  some  of  them  are  now  ministers. 

Our  baptismal  services  were  usually  scenes  of  great  interest. 
On  one  occasion  I  formed  twenty  men  in  a  line  on  the  banks  of 
the  Potomac,  and  locking  arms,  they  walked  with  me  abreast 
down  into  the  water,  the  congregation  on  the  shore  singing  as 
they  went.  On  reaching  suitable  depth,  I  commenced  baptizing 
them ;  and  each  one  standing  in  the  water  till  all  had  been 
"  buried  with  Christ ; "  we  then  locked  arms  again,  and  returned 
to  the  shore  amid  the  greetings  of  song  from  the  congregation 
who  had  witnessed  the  scene.  Among  the  spectators  were 
members  of  Congress,  and  several  foreign  ministers ;  some 
were  standing,  some  were  sitting  in  their  carriages,  but  all  were 
deeply  affected,  and  many  of  them  to  tears. 

While  baptizing  one  day,  a  young  man,  who  had  imbibed 
infidel  views  from  his  father,  rode  his  horse  into  the  water 
close  by  where  I  was '  administering  the  ordinance,  in  order,  as 
he  said,  that  he  might  have  a  fair  view.  As  he  witnessed  the 
calm  and  joyous  expression  of  the  faces  of  the  candidates  as 
they  came  up,  one  after  another,  out  of  the  water,  a  sudden 
sensation  of  trembling  seized  him,  so  that  he  was  compelled  to 
hold  himself  on  his  horse  by  main  force.  Pie  went  from  the 
scene  to  his  home,  and  did  not  leave  it  for  three  days.  On  the 
evening  of  the  third  day  he  came  to  the  meeting  and  related 
the  above,  and  besought  the  prayers  of  God's  people.  On  the 
following  Lord's  day  he  was  baptized  in  the  same  place. 

I  remained  in  Washington  about  seven  weeks,  preaching  day 
and  night.  As  the  result  of  this  meeting,  movements  were 


ELDER  JACOB   KXAPP.  153 

inaugurated  before  I  left,  for  the  erection  of  the  Baptist  Church 
on  E  Street.  The  number  of  persons  brought  into  the  church 
in  consequence  of  this  effort,  including  those  gathered  in 
by  brother  Sampson  after  I  had  gone,  amounted  to  about  two 
hundred. 

RICHMOND. 

While  I  was  preaching  in  Washington,  I  was  waited  on  by 
Elder  Jeter  and  Deacon  Thomas,  of  Richmond,  Va.,  and  invited 
to  visit  that  city.  They  wanted  me,  however,  to  give  them  a 
pledge  that  I  would  keep  silence  on  the  subject  of  slavery. 
They  remained  at  my  lodgings  till  near  midnight,  arguing  this 
point,  but  to  no  purpose.  I  had  never  made  such  a  pledge, 
and  I  could  not  be  persuaded  to  put  on  a  muzzle  simply 
because  of  the  prejudices  of  that  people  in  favor  of  slavery. 
They  left  me,  as  I  supposed,  with  the  intention  of  letting  the 
matter  drop.  But  shortly  afterwards  I  received  a  letter  from 
them,  asking  me  to  come  on,  and  saying  that  I  would  be  left  to 
take  my  own  course  in  regard  to  that  particular  subject,  ex- 
pressing the  belief,  however,  that  when  I  got  on  the  ground, 
and  learned  the  state  of  things,  I  would  see  the  propriety  of 
abstaining  from  any  interference  with  their  "  peculiar  institu- 
tion." I  concluded  to  go  to  Richmond. 

On  going  on  board  the  steamer  we  found  the  table  covered 
with  gambling  cards,  and  the  preparations  completed  for  be- 
ginning a  game.  But  very  soon  it  was  whispered  around  that 
"  Elder  Knapp  and  his  wife  were  on  board."  The  cards  were 
gathered  up  and  put  out  of  sight,  and  Bibles  and  hymn-books 
\vere  set  in  their  place.  I  began  to  think  that  I  had  never  seen 
ministers  of  the  gospel  treated  with  greater  respect  on  the 
•waters  of  the  Eastern  or  Western  States,  and  I  imagined  that 
I  could  guess  the  reason.  I  knew  that  the  devil  was  an  old 
philosopher  and  a  wise  manager,  and  that  as  long  as  he  could 
keep  ministers  under  his  control,  and  induce  them  to  indorse 
slavery,  rum-drinking,  and  the  like,  he  would  treat  them 
politely.  Rum-sellers  will  not  object  to  wearing  out  two  or 
three  hats  a  year  in  bowing  to  ministers,  provided  they  will 
12 


154  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

keep  silent,  and  let  them  carry  on  their  work  of  death.  Slave- 
holders will  be  very  complaisant  and  respectful  to  God's  ser- 
vants if  they  will  but  apologize  for  their  system  of  iniquity, 
occasionally  come  out  with  a  defence  of  the  practice,  and  allow 
them  to  prescribe  the  topics  which  shall  constitute  the  staple  of 
pnlpit  ministrations. 

When  we  reached  Richmond  we  were  met  by  a  number  of 
the  brethren,  and  accompanied  to  the  house  of  Elder  Jeter,  with 
whom  we  boarded.  He  was  the  pastor  of  the  First  church, 
Elder  Magoon  of  the  Second,  Elder  Taylor  was  preaching  in 
the  Third,  and  spending  a  part  of  his  time  in  the  service  of  the 
Missionary  Society. 

I  commenced  with  the  First  church,  preaching  day  and 
night  to  large  congregations.  The  prospects  continued  to 
brighten,  and  very  many  were  beginning  to  yield  to  the  power 
of  the  truth.  As  soon,  however,  as  I  began  to  elevate  the 
standard  of  piety,  and  to  labor  to  bring  the  church  up  to  the 
Bible  idea  of  a  devoted,  working,  holy  people,  I  found  that  I 
was  bringing  my  batteries  to  bear  against  an  impregnable 
forfress  of  prejudice  and  error.  They  did  not  want  a  reforma- 
tion ;  they  desired  merely  a  revival,  a  season  of  religious  sensa- 
tionalism. I  felt  that  the  Lord  bade  me  proclaim  a  fast ;  but 
they  had  no  idea  that  it  meant  the  breaking  of  every  yoke,  and 
letting  the  oppressed  go  free.  All  of  their  fasting  seemed  to 
me  like  solemn  mockery. 

I  could  hold  my  peace  no  longer ;  the  pastor  was  raising 
boys  and  girls  for  market,  like  so  many  calves  and  pigs ;  the 
slave-pen  was  within  the  city  corporation,  and  there  men,  and 
women,  and  children,  some  of  them  members  of  the  church, 
were  bought  and  sold  every  day ;  husbands  and  wives  were 
torn  asunder ;  little  children  were  dragged  from  the  arms  of 
their  mothers ;  womanhood  was  denuded  of  its  modesty,  and 
girls  were  sold  for  lust.  The  whipping-post  was  close  to  the 
house  of  God,  and  the  crack  of  the  lash  and  the  cries  of  the 
slave  victims  mingled  with  the  songs  of  devotion  and  the  voice 
of  prayer 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  155 

While  I  was  there  a  band  of  colored  brethren  and  sisters, 
moved  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  met  together  in  order  to  sing 
praises  and  unite  in  supplication  to  the  Lord.  They  were* 
surprised  by  a  set  of  devils  (called  officers  of  the  peace !),  and 
those  who  could  not  escape  were  dragged  to  the  whipping- 
post, and  lashed  to  laceration,  for  no  other  offence  than  daring 
to  meet  without  the  presence  of  a  white  man.  Throughout  the 
night  the  slave-hounds  were  on  the  scent  for  these  victims,  and 
the  hours  were  made  hideous  with  their  bowlings.  It  seemed 
as  if  I  was  in  Pandemonium. 

How  could  I  ask  God  to  hear  the  prayers  of  such  a  people : 
I  knew  that  the  churches  and  the  ministers  were  involved  in 
this  system  of  iniquity.  I  kept  verging  out  gradually  on  thfs 
great  evil.  I  found  those  who  had  been  brought  up  in  New 
England,  and  other  Northern  States,  among  the  most  strenuous 
and  bitter  advocates  of  slavery.  As  I  continued  to  preach,  with 
increasing  plainness,  the  Bible  doctrines  concerning  human 
rights,  and  those  which  cut  up  this  system  root  and  branch,  the 
leading  members  became  more  and  more  uneasy.  Some  would 
plead  with  me  to  pass  over  this  subject,  assuring  me  that,  with 
this  exception,  my  preaching  was  popular  with  the  community, 
and  that  I  might  do  great  good  if  I  would  not  dwell  on  this  one 
theme.  But  I  could  not  refrain. 

At  length,  after  having  preached  about  three  weeks  in  the 
First  church,  and  about  two  weeks  in  the  Second,  I  preached 
a  sermon  on  the  moral  government  of  God,  in  which  I  showed 
that  all  the  misery  in  the  world  arose  from  the  violation  of 
God's  laws.  Our  failures  to  love  God  supremely,  and  our 
neighbors  as  ourselves,  were  infractions  of  his  holy  law ;  and 
that  if  we  did  love  our  neighbor  as  ourselves,  we  should  not, 
for  example,  be  willing  to  enslave  him,  any  more  than  we 
should  be  willing  to  have  him  enslave  us.  The  feeling  through- 
out the  congregation  was  intense ;  many  came  forward  for 
prayers,  and  the  work  was  rolling  on  with  increasing  power. 

On  reaching  my  room,  I  was  visited  by  a  committee,  and  re- 
quested to  preach  no  more,  unless  I  would  promise  to  keep 


156  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

silent  on  the  subject  of  slavery.  They  professed  fears  for  my 
safety,  and  thought  that  the  house  would  be  burned  down.  I 
told  them  that  I  would  risk  my  life  if  they  would  risk  their 
house.  I  knew  where  the  shoe  pinched.  The  slaveholding 
members  were  afraid  that  their  non-slaveholding  brethren  would 
get  light  and  influence,  and  render  the  position  of  the  slave- 
holding  party  uncomfortable  ;  besides,  they  were  in  love  with 
their  darling  sin.  The  issue,  however,  was  squarely  made.  I 
had  no  choice,  except  to  submit  to  their  terms  or  leave.  I 
decided  to  leave.  We  sent  for  our  clothes,  which  were  out  to  be 
washed,  packed  them  up,  wet  from  the  tub,  and  started  from 
the  place  by  six  o'clock  the  next  morning.  We  shook  the  dust 
of  the  city  from  off  our  feet  as  a  witness  against  them,  and  I 
have  not  seen  Richmond  since. 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  15  T 

Jt 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

ACCOUNTS    OF    PROTKACTED    MEETINGS. 
(CONTINUED.) 

ERIE  :  A  Universalist  Meddler,  and  his  Fate.  —  An  Irish  Lad.  — 
Nineteen  Tears  afterwards.  —  OWEGO  :  Philettis  Peck.  —  Dews  of 
Grace.  —  A  model  Church.  —  A  defiant  Infidel.  —  Wilfulness.  — 
Departed  Worthies. 

ERIE. 

IN  the  month  of  June,  1847,  I  arrived  at  Erie,  Pa.,  then 
comparatively  a  new  town.  The  Baptist  church  was 
struggling  into  existence,  and  was  weak  in  every  sense  of  the 
word.  I  reached  there  on  a  Saturday,  and  began  preaching  on 
the  next  day.  There  was  a  remarkable  expression  of  interest 
at  the  stai't.  On  the  close  of  the  evening  sermon  the  Uni- 
versalist minister  arose,  in  the  presence  of  the  congregation,  and 
began  to  contradict  what  I  had  said.  I  spoke  to  him  kindly, 
reminding  him  that  as  that  service  was  not  of  his  appointment, 
he  had  no  right  to  interrupt  its  exercises,  and  requested  him  to 
be  seated.  He  replied,  that  he  had  as  good  a  right  to  speak  as 
I  had,  and  would  speak  as  much  as  he  pleased.  Finding  that 
simple  remonstrance  was  of  no  avail,  I  dropped  on  my  knees, 
requesting  all  the  congregation  to  unite  with  me  in  prayer.  I 
prayed  very  earnestly,  and  specially  asked  God  that,  "  if  this 
servant  of  the  devil  was  within  the  reach  of  mercy,  he  might 
be  converted  on  the  spot ;  but  if  he  was  never  to  be  converted, 
that  his  mouth  might  be  closed,  so  that  he  would  not  be  able  to 
lead  others  down  to  hell."  As  soon  as  I  arose  from  mj  knees 
he  began  to  speak  again,  and  I  dismissed  the  meeting.  The 


158  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

choir  struck  up  a  hymn,  and  I  signified  to  the  congregation  to 
retire. 

He  followed  me  to  my  lodgings,  and  declared  "  that  he  would 
attend  my  meetings  every  night,  and  that  I  could  not  help 
myself."  I  merely  said,  "  There  is  a  God  in  heaven  who  can 
help  me,"  and  entered  the  house.  I  neither  saw  nor  heard 
more  of  him  during  my  stay  in  the  place.  I  was  somewhat 
surprised,  and  so  were  others,  at  his  sudden  subsiding.  It  was 
generally  supposed  that  he  had  left  town  ;  but  after  my  return 
home,  I  received  a  letter  from  brother  Smith,  the  pastor  of  the 
Baptist  church,  stating  that  this  Universalist  minister  lost  his 
power  of  speech  on  the  very  night  on  which  I  turned  from  him  ; 
that  he  had  remained  concealed,  and  that  the  Universalists  had 
sought  to  keep  these  facts  from  the  knowledge  of  the  com- 
munity ;  and  that  at  the  date  of  that  letter,  he  was  able  to 
speak  only  just  above  a  whisper.  I  have  inquired  after  him 
occasionally,  and  have  learned,  from  time  to  time,  that  he  has 
remained  speechless  for  at  least  fifteen  years.  I  have  recently 
heard  that  his  power  of  speech  is  somewhat  improving,  but  he 
has  never  since,  I  believe,  attempted  to  speak  in  public.  This 
statement  can  be  corroborated  by  reference  to  some  of  the  older 
residents  of  the  town. 

This  man  was  a  great  talker,  and  was  very  flippant  in  his 
advocacy  of  his  favorite  dogma.  And  as  the  people  were  then 
in  a  plastic  taste,  he  was  capable  of  doing  much  harm  in  leading 
the  youth  astray.  He  was  fond  of  challenging  ministers  to 
debate  with  him,  using  "  great  swelling  words,"  and  making  a 
tumult ;  like  the  Philistine  of  Gath,  he  defied  the  armies  of 
Israel. 

Our  meeting  went  on  quietly  after  we  had  got  rid  of  this 
troubler,  and  large  accessions  were  made  to  the  Baptist  church, 
and  also  several  additions  to  other  denominations. 

Among  the  converts  was  a  poor  Irish  lad,  whom,  on  a  visit 
nineteen  years  afterwards,  I  found  to  be  a  man  worth  a  large 
property,  and  devotedly  engaged  in  promoting  the  interests  of 
the  Savior's  cause,  and  in  all  things  proving  himself  to  be  a 


ELDER   JACOB    KNAPP.  159 

pillar  in  the  Baptist  church,  and  zealously  cooperating  with  his 
pastor,  brother  Bainbridge,  whose  father  I  baptized  in  Pennyan 
many  years  ago.  The  father  was  a  faithful  minister  of  Christ, 
and  who,  after  serving  his  generation,  dropping  his  mantle  on 
the  shoulder  of  his  son,  went  up  to  his  reward.  O,  how 
earnestly  I  pray  that  God  will  uphold  and  honor  the  steps  of  the 
son  ! 

OWEGO. 

Near  the  close  of  1848,  brother  Philetus  Peck,  son  of  Elder 
John  Peck,  and  the  pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  at  Owego, 
N.  Y.,  was  summoned  to  the  bedside  of  his  mother,  who  was 
dying,  the  victim  of  an  epidemic.  His  brother,  Linus,  then 
preaching  at  Hamilton,.  N.  Y.,  was  with  him.  In  a  few  days 
the  two  brothers  were  smitten  down  with  the  same  disease,  and 
died.  Linus  was  the  younger  of  the  two,  had  recently  been 
married  to  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Nathaniel  Kendrick,  and  was 
beginning  his  ministry  under  circumstances  full  of  promise. 
Philetus  had  been  for  several  years  pastor  of  the  church  at 
Owego,  and  was  beloved  of  all,  having  proven  himself  to  be  an 
able  preacher,  a  great-hearted  man,  and  a  sincere  and  humble 
Christian.  While  the  life  of  their  beloved  pastor  was  trembling 
in  the  balance,  the  church  was  holding  meetings  of  prayer  for 
his  recovery.  At  one  of  these  assemblings,  the  sad  news  came 
upon  them  that  their  pastor  was  dead.  Overwhelmed  with  the 
grief  that  was  inspired  by  the  sincerest  affection,  the  church 
prostrated  themselves  before  God,  and  besought  him  to 
strengthen  them  to  bear  their  great  sorrow,  and  to  sanctify  it  to 
their  greater  devotion. 

The  gracious  dews  of  heavenly  grace  began  to  fall  on  them 
at  once,  and  they  sent  a  messenger  for  me  to  come  among  them 
immediately.  I  had  just  returned  from  a  long  tour  in  the  east, 
and  needed  rest,  but  my  heart  went  out  to  this  smitten  flock.  I 
could  not  understand  the  meaning  of  Providence  in  taking  awaj- 
a  man  in  the  midst  of  his  days  and  of  his  usefulness,  who,  by 
reason  of  his  advanced  views,  was  so  eminently  fitted  to  be  a 
leader  of  the  people.  I  went  at  once,  and  found  the  field  white 


1GO  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

for  the  harvest,  and  waiting  only  for  the  reaper's  sickle.  The 
interest  of  the  meeting  was  overwhelming.  The  church  as  a 
body  seemed  to  lay  their  all  on  the  altar  of  God.  I  was 
specially  struck  with  the  utter  absence  of  social  distinctions 
among  the  brethren.  The  rich  and  well  provided  were  careful 
to  invite  their  poorer  brethren,  and  those  living  at  a  distance, 
to  their  houses,  in  order  that  all  might  have  opportunity  to 
share  the  blessings  of  the  meetings.  Never  did  I  see  elsewhere 
such  an  exemplification  of  the  command,  "  Have  not  the  grace 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  respect  to  persons." 

The  minds  of  the  different  brethren  were  as  the  mind  of  one 
man.  They  came  together  "  with  one  accord  ;  "  they  all  pulled 
one  way ;  they  delighted  to  honor  each  other ;  they  worked 
with  all  their  might. 

I  preached  day  and  night  for  some  six  weeks,  and  nearly  three 
hundred  persons  were  added  to  the  church,  most  of  whom  I 
baptized  before  I  left. 

I  remember  that  a  hardened  infidel,  who  had  been  accustomed 
to  curse  ministers  and  churches,  followed  me  to  my  lodgings 
one  night,  keeping  up  an  incessant  tirade  of  abuse.  As  I  was 
stepping  into  the  door,  I  remarked,  "  Well,  my  friend,  I  expect 
to  see  you  on  the  anxious-seat  before  long."  He  turned  away, 
exclaiming,  "  Never  !  no,  never."  On  the  evening  of  the  third 
day  after  this  conversation,  whom  should  I  see  in  the  seats  be- 
fore me  but  this  same  man !  As  I  approached  him,  he  asked, 
"What  shall  I  do?  lam  in  deep  trouble."  I  told  him  to 
pray.  He  said,  "  I  cannot  pray  ;  /  dare  not  pray."  I  replied, 
"  God  is  merciful ;  go  to  Jesus,  and  ask  him  to  forgive  you." 
He  replied,  "  I  have  damned  him  to  his  face,  and  how  can  I 
ask  him  for  mercy.  It  seems  to  me,  that  the  moment  I 
attempt  to  pray,  the  devil  will  take  me  right  down  to  hell."  I 
told  him  to  begin,  and  keep  on  praying,  and  the  devil  would  not 
carry  him  far,  for  he  wanted  no  praying  souls  in  hell.  He 
knelt,  and  made  the  attempt  to  pray.  He  would  open  his 
mouth,  and  as  he  was  about  to  speak  his  courage  would  fail 
him,  and  he  would  sink  down  again.  Throughout  that  night, 


ELDEB  JACOB   KNAPP.  161 

and  during  a  part  of  the  next  day,  he  continued  in  this  horrible 
condition  ;  at  length  he  cried  out  to  God  to  have  mercy  upon  him 
for  the  sake  of  Christ.  God  came  to  his  relief,  and  he  broke 
forth  in  strains  of  joy  as  the  consciousness  of  pardon  and  of 
hope  beamed  on  his  soul. 

A  young  lady,  educated  in  the  Congregational  church,  talented 
and  respected,  but  strong  in  her  prejudices,  was  awakened  to  a 
sense  of  her  lost  condition.  After  much  hesitation  she  came 
forward  for  prayers ;  but  when  asked  to  rise,  and  express  her 
feelings,  she  replied,  "  I  do  not  think  it  proper  for  women  to 
speak  in  public."  A  colored  brother,  who  was  within  hearing, 
remarked,  "  Well,  I  guess  when  you  git  the  lub  o'  God  in  yer 
heart,  you'll  be  willin'  to  speak."  She  darted  out  of  the  seat, 
and  out  of  the  house,  remarking,  "  I  am  not  going  to  be  lectured 
by  negroes."  She  left  us,  and  went  to  the  Presbyterian  and 
Methodist  meetings  ;  but  at  the  end  of  a  week  she  came  back, 
still  burdened  with  anxiety  and  beclouded  with  darkness.  She 
summoned  strength  to  rise  and  speak,  still  something  held  her 
back.  She  told  me  that  she  was  afraid  that  if  converted  in  a 
Baptist  meeting,  she  would  have  to  join  a  Baptist  church. 
Under  this  pretext  she  was  allowing  Satan  to  deceive  her. 
With  this  frivolous,  sectarian  excuse,  she  was  trying  to  think 
'  she  had  a  reason  why  she  should  not  give  her  heart  to  God. 
At  length  she  saw  that  her  pride  was  her  great  hinderance. 
She  let  go  her  sectarianism  and  her  prejudices,  and  made  an 
unreserved  surrender  of  herself  to  the  will  of  Christ ;  and  in 
the  joy  of  her  heart  she  sprang  to  her  feet,  and  proclaimed, 
in  thrilling  words,  what  the  Lord  had  done  for  her  soul.  She 
wanted  to  go  down  into  the  river  and  be  baptized  at  once, 
and  could  hardly  wait  till  the  church  had  voted  to  receive 
her. 

Among  the  precious  memories  of  those  days,  I  recall  the 
faces  of  father  Pinney,  and  his  dear  wife  and  their  sons,  and 
brother  Tenman,  and  many  others.  How  earnestly  these  aged 
saints  labored  in  the  good  work !  how  lovingly  they  loved  all 


162  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

who  loved  Christ,  and  sympathized  with  all  classes  of  men ! 
They  have  gone  home,  and  "  rest  from  their  labors,  but  their 
works  do  follow  them."  Ah,  how  short  is  life  !  "  It  is  even  as 
a  vapor,  which  appeareth  for  a  little  time,  and  then  vanisheth 
away."  How  pertinent  the  admonition,  "  Whatsoever  thy 
hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might." 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  163 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

ACCOUNTS  OF  PKOTKACTED  MEETINGS. 
(CONTINUED.) 

CHICAGO:  First  Church  in  1849;  in  1857.  —  Conversions.  —  Invi- 
tation to  a  Ball.  —  Wabash  Avenue  Church.  —  Wbrdliness.  ROCK- 
FOKD:  Removal  to,  in  1849.  — A  Year's  Labor  in  Bockford.  CAN- 
TON :  In  1851.  — A  Mind  to  Work.  —  TJie  Zeal  of  one  Man.  —  Im- 
mediate Baptisms.  —  "  Hell  upon  Earth" 

CHICAGO. 

IN  the  month  of  June,  1849,  for  the  first  time  I  visited  the 
"West.  I  spent  a  few  weeks  in  Chicago,  111.,  preaching  to 
the  First  Baptist  church.  They  were  without  a  pastor  at  the 
time.  I  baptized  about  fifty  persons,  and  searched  out,  and 
gathered  into  the  church,  several  who  had  been  members  of 
eastern  churches,  but  who  had  not  identified  themselves  with 
the  cause  in  this  place.  Among  these  were  some  who  are  now 
recognized  among  the  most  valuable  of  its  members. 

Subsequently  I  held  two  other  meetings  in  this  city,  both  of 
which  proved  great  blessings  to  the  community.  The  third 
meeting  was  held  with  the  Wabash  Avenue  Baptist  church. 

The  second  meeting  with  the  First  church,  about  18o7, 
resulted  in  the  conversion  of  many  young  men,  among  whom 
were  the  children  of  the  late  Judge  Thomas,*  of  Dr.  Boone, 
then  mayor  of  the  city,  and  of  Hon.  Charles  Walker. 

While  this  meeting  was  in  progress  I  received  a  ticket  from 
the  manager  of  a  ball  which  was  soon  to  come  off.  When  I 
entered  the  pulpit,  I  remarked  that  I  had  received  an  invitation 

*  One  of  whom  is  now  the  beloved  pastor  of  the  Pierrepont  Street 
Baptist  churchf  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


164  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

to  attend  a  ball  that  evening ;  and  inasmuch  as  I  had  not 
attended  one  for  more  than  thirty  years,  I  thought  I  would  go  ; 
that  I  would  preach  a  short  sermon,  and  wanted  the  brethren 
to  continue  in  prayer  till  my  return. 

Some  wag  in  the  gallery  slipped  out,  and  went  over  tQ  the 
ball-room,  and  told  them  that  I  was  coming  over  there.  One 
of  the  company  said,  "  O,  you  are  joking."  "  No,"  replied 
the  young  man,  "  I  heard  him  say  that  he  was  coming  at  the 
close  of  a  short  sermon."  I  took  brother  Walker  with  me. 
Before  we  had  reached  the  place  some  had  left  j  and  as  we  got 
there,  some  were  going  into  the  yard,  and  some  were  running 
up  and  down  stairs.  The  young  ladies  were  begging  the  gen- 
tlemen to  take  them  home.  Several,  however,  made  a  show 
of  determination  to  keep  up  the  dance.  But  they  made  bad 
work  of  it.  There  was  music  enough  in  the  fiddles,  but  the 
fiddlers  could  not  get  it  out.  Their  limbs  trembled,  and  the 
dance  was  not  up  to  time.  I  made  a  few  remarks,  spent  a 
season  in  prayer,  and  invited  them  to  come  and  hear  me  preach 
on  the  subject  of  dancing  on  the  next  Friday  evening.  Very 
many  of  them  did  so ;  and  I  hope  that  they  were  made  wiser 
and  better.  I  think  that  about  seventy  persons  were  baptized 
into  the  fellowship  of  the  First  church,  as  the  result  of  this 
meeting. 

Brother  Edwards  was  preaching  at  the  same  time  to  the 
Second  church,  and  a  good  work  was  done  there. 

My  meeting  in  the  Wabash  Avenue  church  took  place  in 
1862.  The  war  excitement  was  running  high,  and  the  spirit 
of  speculation  higher.  Many  brethren  of  business  could  not 
find  time  to  attend  except  on  the  Sabbath.  Even  brethren  who 
had  been  converted  under  my  ministry,  or  whose  children  had 
been,  and  who  personally  felt  a  great  interest  in  me,  were  so 
engaged  in  their  worldly  pursuits,  that  they  felt  justified  in 
excusing  themselves  from  the  work  of  the  Lord.  As  might  be 
expected,  the  work  was  not  general.  Still  our  labors  were  not 
without  considerable  fruit,  and  seed  was  sown  that  may  yet 
bear  a  plentiful  harvest. 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  165 

ROCKFORD. 

la  the  month  of  October,  1849,  I  reached  Rockford,  111., 
with  my  family,  and  located  them  about  four  miles  from  the 
town. 

The  Baptist  church  in  Rockford  was  quite  small.  They  had 
a  little  wooden  building,  which  might,  by  crowding,  hold  two 
hundred  persons.  Yet  this  was  larger  than  the  size  of  the  con- 
gregation ordinarily  required.  The  pulpit  was  being  supplied 
by  Professor  S.  S.  Whitman,  who  lived  in  Belvidere.  But  his 
health  was  failing,  and  in  a  short  time  "  he  fell  on  sleep."  I 
felt  a  deep  interest  in  this  little  church,  and  consented  to  preach 
for  them  during  the  fall  and  winter.  In  the  winter  I  preached 
forty  sermons,  in  nightly  succession,  and  rode  home  after  each 
sermon. 

In  a  short  time  we  were  crowded  out  of  our  small  quarters, 
and  secured  the  use  of  the  Court  House  until  the  present  com- 
modious stone  edifice  was  completed.  I  baptized  eighty  persons 
into  the  fellowship  of  this  church.  I  remained  with  them  nearly 
a  whole  year,  until  the  new  house  was  finished,  and  then  they 
secured  the  services  of  Elder  Ichabod  Clarke,  and  I  resumed 
my  labors  as  an  evangelist. 

CANTON. 

In  the  autumn  of  1851,  I  commenced  a  meeting  in  Canton, 
111.  The  Baptist  church  was  under  the  pastoral  care  of  brother 
W.  G.  Miner.  There  was  no  special  religious  interest  in  the 
community  when  we  began,  but  the  pastor  and  brethren  took 
hold  with  a  hearty  good  will,  and  the  Spirit  of  God  came  down 
with  great  power.  We  gave  the  trumpet  a  certain  sound,  and 
the  people  prepared  themselves  for  battle.  Some  squirmed 
under  the  truth,  and  quailed  before  the  grape-shot  which  flew  in 
every  direction  ;  sinners  cried  out  for  mercy,  and  crowded  round 
"  the  anxious  seats."  The  weather  was  very  unpleasant,  the  mud 
being  almost  knee  deep,  and  the  roads  nearly  impassable  ;  never- 
theless the  people  met,  and  men  and  women  kf.pt  pouring  in  from 


166  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

all  the  surrounding  region.  Two  brethren  kept  their  teams 
constantly  engaged  in  carrying  the  people  to  and  from  the 
meeting.  The  house  soon  became  too  small  for  the  throngs 
that  gathered  to  hear  the  word.  In  one  single  day  lumber  was 
brought  on  to  the  ground,  and  addition  made  to  the  building, 
so  that  the  crowd  at  night  found  the  borders  of  our  habitation 
enlarged  for  their  accommodation. 

As  an  instance  of  the  zeal  of  the  brethren,  I  will  mention 
the  case  of  an  aged  saint,  who  lived  some  distance  from  town, 
and  became  so  interested  that  he  built  a  little  room  in  the  place, 
so  that  he  and  his  wife  might  enjoy  all  the  services.  He 
became  so  greatly  concerned  on  account  of  his  children  and 
grandchildren,  that  he  started  on  a  journey,  eighteen  miles,  in 
order  to  talk  with  them  on  the  concerns  of  their  souls.  He  in- 
duced many  of  them,  and  of  their  neighbors,  to  come  to  the 
meetings,  and  about  twenty  persons  were  brought  to  Christ  in 
that  neighborhood  as  the  reward  of  his  fidelity.  How  easy  it 
is  to  do  good,  and  how  much  good  can  be  done  by  the  feeblest 
instrumentalities ! 

It  was  our  custom  to  follow  close  upon  the  heels  of  the 
apostles  in  the  baptizing  of  converts.  When  one  rose  up,  re- 
joicing in  the  blessed  Savior,  the  church  would  vote  him  right  in, 
and  we  baptized  him.  In  one  week  brother  Miner  and  myself 
baptized  seventy  persons,  who,  during  the  same  week,  professed 
to  have  experienced  a  change  of  heart.  Before  the  work 
ceased,  three  hundred  were  "  added  to  the  church,"  and  the 
number  of  communicants  amounted  to  six  hundred.  This  sea- 
son was  a  memorable  epoch  in  the  history  of  Canton. 

At  its  close,  when  my  mind  was  wrought  up  to  the  height 
of  a  blissful  experience  of  communion  with  God  and  heaven, 
I  was  compelled  to  pass  a  night,  on  my  return  home,  at  a  little, 
low  grog-shop  of  a  shanty,  which  was  the  only  lodging-place  the 
spot  afforded.  Drunkards  and  sweai'ers  were  congregated  in 
the  room  where  I  was  obliged  to  sit,  and  they  made  the  night 
hideous  with  their  cursings  and  obscenities.  It  seemed  as  if 
they  were  exhausting  the  vocabulary  of  blasphemy.  Their  Ian- 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  167 

guage  was  the  dialect  of  perdition,  and  the  scene  formed  such 
a  contrast  with  the  rapture  with  which  I  had  been  exalted,  that 
it  seemed  to  me  to  be  itself  a  hell  upon  earth.  Twice,  as  I  fell 
into  a  doze,  I  was  awakened  by  their  carousals,  and  for  the 
moment  I  thought  I  was  verily  in  hell ;  and  I  opened  my  eyes, 
expecting  to  see  the  devil  himself.  When  fully  restored  to 
wakefulness,  I  lifted  up  to  God  the  prayer,  "  Gather  not  my 
soul  with  sinners." 


168  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

ACCOUNTS  OF  PROTRACTED  MEETINGS. 
(CONTINUED.) 

ST.  Louis :  Sparks  from  the  One  Altar.  —  Disparagement.  —  Great 
Ingathering.  —  Giving  the  Hand  of  Fellowship.  —  A  new  Church 
formed.  —  Its  Dismemberment.  MIDLETOWN  :  Pecuniary  Induce- 
ments. —  Hesitation  about  going.  —  Prayers  for  the  Devil.  —  Obey- 
ing Orders.  - —  Results.  —  Meeting  in  1864.  —  Youngest  Son  convert- 
ed. LOUISVILLE  :  Sensitiveness  of  the  People  concerning  Slavery. 
—  Apprehensions.  —  Signs  of  Success.  —  A  Dream,  and  its  Inter- 
pretation. —  Notice  to  leave. 

ST.  Louis. 

IN  the  winter  of  the  year  1858,  I  was  invited  to  hold  a  meet- 
ing in  the  Second  Baptist  church,  in  St.  Louis,  -Mo.,  then 
destitute  of  a  pastor.  Though  the  church  was  in  a  low  estate, 
I  found  much  excellent  material  in  it.  As  soon  as  prayer  and 
preaching  were  maintained  day  and  night,  the  members  began 
to  be  interested,  and  came  up  to  the  work  with  zest.  Converts 
were  multiplied.  The  other  churches  began  to  catch  the  spii-it ; 
especially  was  this  true  of  the  Third  church,  where  a  blessed 
outpouring  of  the  Spirit  was  enjoyed. 

Some  one  wrote  an  article  in  the  Christian  Times,  in  which 
he  announced  that  other  churches  were  enjoying  a  precious 
visitation  of  grace  almost  as  great  as  that  with  which  the  Second 
church  was  being  favored.  The  tone  of  the  article  was  impli- 
edly  calculated  to  insinuate  disparagement  on  my  labors.  He 
did  not,  or  would  not,  see  that  other  altars  had  been  kindled 
from  sparks  from  off  the  altar  before  which  we  were  ministering, 
and  that  others  were  reaping  a  harvest  which  had  resulted  from 
the  breaking  up  of  the  fallow  ground  in  the  first  instance.  We 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  180 

made  no  reply ;  for  the  work  was  all  of  God,  and  to  him  be- 
longed all  the  glory.  He  that  planteth  and  he  that  watereth 
are  nothing  ;  but  God,  who  giveth  the  increase,  is  all  and  in  all. 

On  the  last  day  of  my  labors  with  the  Second  church  I 
extended  the  hand  of  fellowship  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  per- 
sons. The  scene  was  admitted  to  be  among  the  most  soul- 
stirring  that  had  ever  been  witnessed  in  the  city.  In  the  first 
place,  after  arranging  the  candidates  along  the  outside  aisle, 
the  members  sitting  in  the  centre  pews,  I  gave  to  each  the  hand 
of  welcome,  and  made  to  each  person  a  few  appropriate  remarks  ; 
then  the  members  of  the  church  formed  into  line,  and  passed 
along  the  line,  and  shook  hands  with  each  of  the  converts  ;  all 
singing  beautiful  revival  tunes  as  they  went  through  the  cere- 
mony of  greeting.  The  house  was  crowded,  and  many  shed 
tears,  and  many  were  pricked  in  their  hearts. 

Many  of  the  members  of  the  church,  both  old  and  new,  were 
strongly  impressed  with  the  conviction  that  the  time  had  come 
in  which  to  form  a  new  church.  There  was  wealth  and  talent 
sufficient  to  warrant  it,  and  souls  enough  to  demand  it.  After 
I  had  left,  and  had  entered  on  another  field,  a  delegation  came  to 
solicit  my  presence  and  counsel  in  the  enterprise.  Though  the 
Second  church,  as  a  body,  did  not  seem  to  favor  the  movement, 
yet  it  seemed  to  me  that  the  general  interests  of  the  cause  would 
be  promoted  if  its  forces  were  divided  (for  I  never  did  think 
it  best  to  plant  all  the  corn  in  one  hill)  ;  besides,  the  necessities 
of  that  growing  city  made  the  starting  of  another  church  a  duty. 
Brother  Nelson  had  secured  a  good  church  building,  in  a  good 
location,  at  a  very  great  bargain.  I  therefore  went,  and  called 
together  all  who  were  willing  to  embark  in  the  enterprise.  A 
church  was  organized  at  once.  I  remained  with  them  some 
four  months,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  the  additions,  by  letter 
and  baptisms,  numbered  two  hundred  persons. 

On  my  departure,  I  helped  them  to  secure  the  services  of  a 

well-known  and  highly-esteemed  brother  for  six  months.     At 

the  expiration  of  that  time,  the  demands  made  on  him  from  other 

quarters  seemed  to  call  him  away.     Then  followed  seasons  of 

18 


170  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

discouragement  and  difficulty,  which  finally  led  to  the  disband- 
ing of  the  church,  and  the  return  of  the  members  into  the  other 
churches. 

MIDDLETOWN. 

In  the  month  of  March,  1859,  I  visited  Middletown,  Ohio. 
A  good  brother,  more  than  twenty  years  before,  had  urged  me 
strongly  to  hold  a  meeting  in  this  town.  He  had  offered  to  give 
me  one  hundred  dollars  over  and  above  what  the  church  might 
do,  if  I  would  only  come.  But  on  that  account,  as  well  as  for 
other  reasons,  I  would  not  go,  lest  I  might,  even  unconsciously, 
be  actuated  by  a  mercenary  spirit.  For  the  same  reason  I 
declined  a  call  to  another  place,  where  I  was  offered  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  acres  of  good  land  in  the  State  of  Illinois  by  one 
man.  I  never  answered  his  letter.  I  have  always  been  anxious 
to  go  where  I  thought  I  could  do  the  most  good,  without  any 
regard  to  my  compensation  ;  and  I  have  often  found  that  where 
there  has  been  the  least  prospect  of  being  well  compensated  I 
have  fared  the  best. 

But  at  length  I  felt  it  to  be  my  duty  to  go  to  Middletown.  I 
found  this  dear  brother's  heart,  house,  and  purse  all  open  to  do 
anything  for  Jesus.  At  the  beginning  of  the  meeting,  I  re- 
marked, that  I  wished  all  to  suspend  their  judgments  about  the 
preaching  until  they  had  heard  twenty  sermons  ;  that  I  did  not 
always  preach  alike,  and  often  did  not  like  my  own  preaching ; 
and  that,  if  at  the  end  of  that  time  they  did  not  feel  themselves 
profited,  I  would  excuse  them. 

A  man  of  distinction  in  the  town,  and  professedly  an  infidel, 
said,  as  also  did  many  others,  that  my  request  was  quite  reason- 
able, and  that  he  would  comply  with  it,  and  attend  steadily. 
While  many  were  sending  in  requests  for  prayers,  he  sent  in 
one,  to  the  effect  that  "  the  devil  might  be  converted,"  adding, 
that  he  thought  that  if  the  devil  was  converted,  others  might  be 
more  easily  reached.  I  read  the  request,  and  gave  notice  that, 
on  a  given  night,  I  would  preach  a  sermon,  showing  "  why  it 
was  necessary  that  there  should  be  a  devil."  The  night  came, 
and  the  house  was  crowded.  This  infidel  lawyer  was  on  hand, 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  171 

and  beginning  to  give  signs  of  a  concern  which  he  could  not 
conceal.  A  few  days  afterwards,  I  said  to  him,  "  Mr.  D.,  you 
are  a  lawyer,  and  I  am  a  minister.  If  I  had  an  important  case 
to  be  tried  before  a  civil  court,  I  should  commit  it  into  your 
hands,  and  follow  your  advice,  because  I  know  that  in  such 
matters  your  judgment  would  be  better  than  mine.  Is  it  not 
reasonable  that  you  should  take  my  advice  in  religious  matters, 
seeing  they  have  been  the  study  and  business  of  my  life?"  His 
answer  was,  "  Well,  that  looks  reasonable ;  I  will  do  it." 
"  Now,"  said  I,  "  come  out,  and  take  the  seat  for  prayers." 
He  did  so.  At  the  close  of  the  meeting  that  evening  I  begged 
him  to  pray  with  his  family  before  he  retired.  He  agreed  to 
do  so.  As  he  sat  by  the  side  of  his  wife,  who  was  a  Christian, 
before  the  fire,  the  cross  seemed  like  the  weight  of  a  mountain. 
He  afterwards  told  me,  that  if  he  could  have  chosen  between 
kneeling  in  prayer  and  throwing  a  thousand  bank  bills  into  the 
stove,  he  would  gladly  have  done  the  latter.  But,  true  to  his 
promise,  he  bowed  himself  in  prayer  for  the  first  time  in  his 
life,  and  there  Jesus  met  him.  His  burden  left  him,  and  he 
rejoiced  in  the  Savior.  He  has  made  a  useful  Christian  from 
that  day  to  this. 

There  were  between  seventy  and  eighty  persons  converted, 
and  added  to  the  church,  during  this  revival.  In  a  meeting 
with  this  church,  at  a  later  period  (1864),  about  the  same 
number  were  again  brought  into  the  church..  In  each  of  these, 
persons  joined  who  were  influential  members  of  society.  And 
now  the  church  is  a  strong  and  able  body. 

This  people,  as  have  many  other,  became  very  dear  to  me,  by 
reason  of  the  precious  seasons  I  enjoyed  with  them  ;  especially 
because  it  was  here  (1864)  that  my  youngest  son,  Luther,  was 
born  again. 

LOUISVILLE. 

Shortly  after  the  settlement  of  brother  W.  W.  Everts,  as 
pastor  of  the  Walnut  Street  Baptist  church,  in  Louisville,  Ky., 
I  was  sent  for.  This  was  in  the  year  1856. 

I  knew  that,  Kentucky  being  a  slave  state,  I  should  be  ex- 


172  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

posed  to  serious  liabilities  of  difficulty.  The  prejudices  of  the 
people  were  very  strong,  and  their  sensitiveness  quickened  by 
reason  of  the  political  excitement  that  was  then  beginning  to 
rage  all  over  the  country  on  account  of  this  subject.  But  the 
remembrance  of  the  blessed  seasons  that  I  had  enjoyed  with 
brother  Everts,  in  Mulberry  Street,  New  York  city,  kindled 
within  me  a  desire  to  renew  my  intercourse  with  a  brother 
whom  I  so  highly  esteemed.  I  persuaded  myself  that  perchance 
the  way  would  be  smoothed  before  me,  so  that  I  should  share 
in  a  marvellous  display  of  God's  grace.  I  therefore  resolved 
to  go. 

Very  soon  there  appeared  to  prevail  throughout  the  city  a 
seriousness  on  the  subject  of  religion,  and  very  many,  especially 
the  young,  came  forward  for  prayers,  and  converts  were  be- 
ginning to  be  multiplied. 

I  found  the  membership  of  this  church  to  be  composed  of 
two  classes,  —  earnest  pro-slavery,  and  strong  anti-slavery  men  ; 
who,  however,  had  come  to  the  mutual  agreement  that  noth- 
ing should  be  said  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  either  for  or 
against.  A  former  pastor  —  a  northern  man  —  had  sought  to 
conciliate  the  people  by  preaching  in  favor  of  slavery  ;  but  the 
church,  consistent  with  itself,  had  dismissed  him.  Brother 
Everts  and  myself,  after  consulting  together,  in  view  of  this 
peculiar  state  of  things,  concluded  that  it  would  not  be  wise 
for  me  to  come  out  against  slavery  at  once.  The  attempt  might 
jeopardize  the  meeting,  and  fail  to  do  as  much  good  as  the 
same  remarks  might  effect  when  I  had  gained  a  better  hold  on 
the  people.  Still  I  could  not  bring  my  conscience  to  consent  to 
an  entire  silence  on  the  subject.  So  I  concluded  to  say  nothing 
about  it  till  near  the  close  of  the  meeting,  when  God  had  given 
me  many  souls  as  seals  of  my  ministry.  I  purposed  to  preach 
on  the  subject  in  one  discourse  only,  and  give  such  advice  as  my 
age  and  experience  would  qualify  me  to  give  and  prepare  them 
to  receive. 

By  some  means,  however,  my  intentions  got  whispered  around. 
The  devil  rallied  all  his  forces  among  the  slaveholding  mem- 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  173 

bers,  and  excited  the  prejudices  and  fears  of  the  people.  They 
became  uneasy,  and  were  expecting  that  in  my  "  next"  sermon 
I  would  open  my  batteries  on  their  peculiar  and  pet  institution. 
On  one  occasion,  I  merely  quoted  the  simple  text,  "  Think  not 
that  I  am  come  to  send  peace  on  the  earth ;  I  came  not  to  send 
peace,  but  a  sword."  Instantly  their  pro-slavery  sympathies 
took  the  alarm. 

A  change,  which  I  had  felt  to  be  coming  over  the  people, 
now  became  more  marked  than  ever.  A  studied  reserve  and 
avoidance  seemed  to  characterize  the  deportment  of  many ;  a 
cloud  appeared  to  hang  over  the  meetings  ;  the  wheels  of  salva- 
tion were  clogged.  My  soul  was  bowed  down.  I  prayed  and 
fasted  often.  I  sought  to  know  the  mind  of  God  as  to  what 
course  I  should  pursue.  At  length,  one  night  I  had  a  sort  of 
dream,  or  vision.  I  saw  myself  standing  on  the  edge  of  a  race- 
way, filled  with  all  kinds  and  sizes  of  fish.  I  stepped  into  the 
water,  and  found  them  so  plentiful,  and  withal  so  tarne,  that 
they  gathered  around  and  touched  my  limbs.  I  was  able  to 
take  up  and  throw  them  on  the  bank  as  fast  as  others  could  take' 
care  of  them.  While  thus  engaged,  some  one,  whom  I  did  not 
clearly  recognize,  went  below  and  shut  down  the  gate,  when,  in 
an  instant,  the  whole  school  of  fish  turned  round,  and  moved  up, 
and  glided  into  the  main  stream,  and  went  off  beyond  my  reach. 
I  had  caught  but  few,  and  my  hopes  were  blasted.  I  awoke 
with  a  feeling  of  sadness  ;  a  premonition  of  trouble. 

On  the  next  night,  after  the  sermon,  a  paper  was  handed  to 
me,  which  contained  a  communication,  signed  by  some  of  the 
deacons  and  leading  members,  expressing  the  opinion  that  the 
work  was  now  well  under  way,  and  requesting  me  to  retire,  and 
leave  the  meetings  in  the  hands  of  the  pastor.  Of  course  the 
gate  was  shut.  I  remembered  my  dream,  and  saw  the  interpre- 
tation thereof. 

My  indignation  at  the  injustice  with  which  I  was  treated, 
yielded  to  my  grief  at  their  own  blindness  and  insensibility  to 
the  blessings  which  God  was  willipg  to  bestow  upon  them.  I 
thought  of  the  many  souls  that  might  have  been  saved ;  and  as 


174  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

I  realized  how  easily  they  might  have  been  reached,  and  that 
now  they  were  thrown  off  into  the  broad  stream  of  death,  my 
heart  was  melted  in  grief.  The  everlasting  well-being  of  mul- 
titudes, the  honor  of  the  cause  of  Christ,  had  been  deliberately 
sacrified  to  the  Moloch  of  slavery. 

Many  of  the  church  were  indignant,  and  even  some  of  the 
old  Kentucky  families  wept  like  children,  as  they  thought  of 
this  unkindness.  The  next  day  was  rainy  and  gloomy.  I 
crossed  the  river,  feeling  myself  forsaken,  sad,  and  desolate.  I 
remained  standing  on  the  opposite  bank  in  the  rain,  deliberating 
whether  or  not  I  should  go  back  and  open  a  meeting  in  some 
other  part  of  the  town,  and  see  if  God  would  not  come  to  my 
help,  and  shake  the  city ;  but  finally  concluded  to  shake  the 
dust  off  my  feet,  and  turn  my  back  on  the  place.  I  understood, 
better  than  ever  before,  the  feelings  of  the  Savior  when  he  wept 
at  sight  of  Jerusalem,  and  uttered  his  lament  over  its  inevitable 
fate. 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  175 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

ACCOUNTS    OF    PROTEACTED    MEETINGS. 
(CONTINUED.) 

BOSTON  :  Baldwin  Place  Church.  —  Changes  in  Nineteen  Tears.  — 
Self-Examination.  —  Discouragements.  —  Union  Church.  —  Great 
Work.  —  A  genuine  Convert.  —  Presence  of  God.  —  Tremont 
Temple  Church.  —  Sinless  Perfection,  and  the  lack  of  it.  —  Con- 
version of  a  Universalist  Preacher.  —  Farewell  Sermon  in  Bowdoin 
Square  Church.  —  A  working  Church. 

BOSTON. 

IN  the  autumn  of  1860,  I  was  again  invited  to  visit  Boston, 
Mass.      The  request  came   from  the  Baldwin   Place  and 
Union  churches. 

I  began  with  the  Baldwin  Place  church.  I  preached  day  and 
night,  and  had  good,  but  not  crowded  congregations.  The 
lapse  of  nineteen  years  had  wrought  many  changes.  In  the 
first  place,  the  tide  of  population  had  set  in  on  the  South  End ; 
the  surroundings  of  Baldwin  Place  were  occupied  by  stores  and 
warehouses,  and  foreigners.  In  the  next  place,  many  of  those 
whose  cooperation  I  had  enjoyed  had  passed  to  their  reward. 
Again,  others  had  become  lukewarm,  and  many  had  imbibed 
prejudices  against  protracted  efforts,  especially  if  conducted  by 
outside  agency ;  while  others,  though  sympathizing  with  me 
and  my  work,  had  become  too  old  and  feeble  to  render  me 
much  assistance.  Among  these  I  may  mention  brethren 
Wilbur,  Gilbert,  and  Hill.  Withal  the  church  itself  was  very 
much  reduced  in  numbers  and  efficiency,  having  only  two  or 
three  who  were  earnest  and  available  co-workers ;  and  these 


176  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

few  faithful  men  were  embarrassed  by  reason  of  the  serious 
faultiness  of  one  who  occupied  the  position  of  a  leader  in  Israel, 
but  failed  sadly  to  come  up  to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  and 
whose  inconsistencies  were  beginning  to  awaken  anxiety  and 
alarm. 

The  contrast  between  this  and  my  former  visit  brought  great 
sorrow  to  my  soul,  but  I  resolved  to  consecrate  myself  un- 
reservedly to  God.  I  fasted  and  prayed  day  and  night;  I 
instituted  a  new  and  strict  self-examination  ;  scrutinized  my 
motives ;  reviewed  my  whole  course  of  labors,  and  prayed  to 
know  all  my  defects.  I  asked  God  to  show  me  if  the  tone  of 
my  preaching  had  been  too  severe  ;  whether  I  had  indulged  in 
a  censorious  spirit  in  my  remarks  concerning  ministers  or  the 
people,  especially  concerning  those  who  had  opposed  me.  In 
short,  I  inquired  of  the  Lord  to  show  me  what  change  in  my 
course  would  be  agreeable  to  his  will,  or  was  demanded  by  the 
different  state  of  public  feeling.  I  think  I  sincerely  desired  to 
know  and  do  the  will  of  God. 

After  trying  to  accomplish  something  at  Baldwin  Place,  I 
became  satisfied  that  it  was  not  my  duty  to  continue  there  any 
longer.  I  therefore  gave  them  notice  of  my  intention  to  leave, 
and  forthwith  began  a  series  of  meetings  with  the  Union  church 
in  Merrimac  Street. 

Here  the  work  of  the  Lord  broke  out  with  great  power. 
"  The  people  had  a  mind  to  work."  Brother  Chipman  paid  the 
salary  of  a  brother,  whom  he  engaged  to  devote  his  entire  time 
in  going  from  house  to  house,  talking  and  praying  with  the 
people,  and  inducing  persons  to  attend  the  meetings  and  seek 
salvation.  He  was  also  quite  prominent  in  providing  the  sup- 
port of  a  brother  who  preached  in  Globe  Hall,  and  labored 
among  the  most  degraded  classes  of  the  city. 

The  interest  extended  over  to  Cambridgeport  and  Charlestown. 
Very  many  of  the  most  hardened  sinners  were  converted, 
especially  as  the  result  of  the  meetings  held  in  the  hall.  One 
man,  who  had  been  a  pirate,  and  others,  whose  lives  had  been 
given  up  to  unrestrained  wickedness,  were  converted.  There 


ELDEK   JACOB  KNAPP.  177 

was  one  marked  case.  A  man  of  more  than  ordinary  talent, 
and  of  natural  generosity,  — one  whom  we  could  call  "  whole- 
souled,"  —  and  who  had  been  a  rum-seller  for  twenty  years, 
and,  as  might  be  supposed,  a  confirmed  Universalist,  came  into 
our  meetings.  Once  he  was  in  comfortable  circumstances  and 
respectable,  but  now  his  family  were  reduced  to  want,  and  he 
became  a  sot.  He  was  deeply  convicted,  and  on  one  occasion 
took  three  glasses  of  brandy  in  order  to  put  an  end  to  his  misery. 
He  went  home,  laid  himself  on  the  floor,  and  waited  for  death  ; 
but  the  distress  of  his  mind  was  more  powerful  than  the  brandy. 
At  length  he  was  constrained  to  send  for  some  one  to  come  and 
pray  for  him.  He  became  a  very  humble  and  earnest  Christian, 
and  was  especially  successful  in  bringing  his  former  associates 
to  listen  to  the  preached  word.  He  spent  his  whole  time  among 
tipplers,  drunkards,  and  drunkard  makers,  striving  to  lead  them 
to  Jesus.  He  rose  up  early  in  the  mornings,  and  went  on  from 
day  to  day.  One  day  his  wife  told  him  that  there  was  nothing 
for  dinner.  His  faith  in  God  was  such,  that  he  assured  her 
that  God  would  provide  for  those  who  were  intent  on  doing  his 
will.  As  he  turned  to  leave,  he  espied  a  five-dollar  bill  which 
some  one  had  thrust  in  under  the  door.  On  another  occasion, 
his  wife  reminded  him  that  the  rent  was  due.  He  gave  her  a 
similar  answer,  and  a  few  minutes  afterwards  a  friend  sent  to 
the  house  money  enough  to  meet  the  rent.  In  this  trustful  way 
he  worked  all  winter.  His  daily  wants  were  provided  for,  and 
he  was  busy  in  winning  souls.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  his 
labors  were  crowned  with  great  success. 

During  this  meeting  I  enjoyed  very  much  of  the  presence  of 
God.  The  brethren  would  set  apart  special  days  of  consecra- 
tion, and  pray  for  the  descent  of  the  Spirit  on  those  particular 
days ;  and  on  those  occasions  the  very  atmosphere  seemed 
impregnated  with  the  divine  influence.^  No  one  could  come 
into  the  room  where  we  were  without  recognizing  the  presence 
of  God.  At  times  it  seemed  as  if  I  was  overwhelmed  with  the 
gracious  fulness  of  God,  and  that  my  poor  and  limited  faculties 
coukl  bear  no  more.  The  tide  of  salvation  rose  higher  and 


178  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

higher.  Converts  were  multiplied  by  scores  and  by  hundreds. 
Our  place  of  worship  became  too  small  for  us,  and  it  was 
thought  best  for  me  to  move  to  some  other  part  of  the  city.  I 
remember,  with  great  satisfaction,  the  warm-hearted  coopera- 
tion of  brother  D.  M.  Crane,  the  pastor.  I  labored  with  the 
Union  church  about  ten  weeks. 

After  some  consultation  I  concluded  to  go  to  the  Tremont 
Temple.  The  pastor  of  this  church  was  about  to  be  absent  for 
several  months,  and  the  location  being  central,  and  accessible 
from  all  parts,  rendered  the  opportunity  very  desirable.  On 
Sundays  I  preached  in  the  main  avidience-room,  and  during  the 
week  in  the  Meionaon,  —  a  hall  in  the  building,  which  will  hold 
eight  hundred  persons.  Many  of  the  brethren  and  sisters  who 
had  worked  in  the  Union  church  came  with  me  to  the  Temple. 
Enough  remained  behind  to  keep  the  work  going  on  there. 

At  this  place  I  met  with  some  who  thought  they  had  reached 
a  state  of  entire  sanctification.  As  for  myself,  I  was  never 
troubled  with  too  much  holiness  ;  my  difficulty  has  rather  been 
the  want  of  it.  I  encourage  all  to  believe  in  the  doctrine  as 
much  as  they  please,  and  practise  it  all  they  can.  I  have 
believed,  for  many  years,  that  there  was  no  law  of  God  that 
we  were  obliged  to  break ;  no  command  that  we  could  not 
keep ;  and,  for  months  together,  I  have  thought  that  my  entire 
will  was  swallowed  in  the  divine  will,  and  my  soul  was  filled 
"  with  joy  unspeakable,  and  full  of  glory ;  "  still,  at  times,  I 
could  detect  in  myself  some  lurkings  of  ambition  for  the  honors 
of  men,  or  of  more  regard  to  my  own  indulgence  or  interest 
than  was  compatible  with  a  state  of  sinless  perfection.  In 
short,  I  have  never  reached  a  condition  in  my  religious  experi- 
ence wherein  I  have  come  to  regard  the  repetition  of  the  prayer, 
"  Forgive  us  our  sins,"  as  a  superfluous  or  inappropriate  utter- 
ance. 

A  man  who  had  been  preaching  Universalism,  and  lecturing 
on  temperance  throughout  New  England,  came  into  the  Temple 
full  of  a  resolution  to  expose  my  errors ;  but  he  had  not  been 
in  the  room  long  before  he  began  to  perceive  his  own.  He 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  179 

resisted,  for  a  time,  his  convictions,  and  though  "  almost,"  was 
not  quite  "  persuaded  "  to  renounce  his  former  views.  While 
in  this  vacillating  condition  his  eyesight  became  dim ;  his 
strength  began  to  fail  him  ;  he  started  for  his  boarding-place, 
and  when  he  reached  the  house  he  was  so  bewildered,  and  his 
sight  had  so  failed  him,  that  he  was  compelled  to  call  for  help 
He  passed  a  sleepless  night,  and  made  a  solemn  promise  to  the 
Lord,  that  if  he  would  preserve  his  life  until  morning,  he  would 
publicly  renounce  his  errors,  and  devote  his  life  to  trying  to 
undo  the  evil  he  had  done.  He  continued  to  be  blind,  or  nearly 
so,  during  all  the  next  day ;  in  the  evening  he  was  in  the  meet- 
ing, and  he  arose,  confessed  his  sins,  renounced  his  false 
doctrines,  and  begged  for  prayers.  He  remained,  however,  in 
a  despondent  state  of  mind  for  two  or  three  days.  He  seemed 
to  think  that  even  if  God  were  to  forgive  him,  he  could  never 
forgive  himself  on  account  of  the  injury  he  had  done  in  leading 
so  many  astray.  This  reflection  was  the  great  sorrow  of  his 
heart.  He  could  neither  think  nor  talk  of  anything  else. 
Even  after  he  had  obtained  a  sense  of  pardon,  through  the 
atonement  of  Christ,  the  prevailing  state  of  his  mind  was  that 
of  self-reproach. 

After  preaching  one  evening  on  the  subject  of  "  Parkerism," 
I  called  on  him  to  relate  his  experience,  but  the  infidels  in  the 
congregation  would  not  listen  to  him.  Their  master,  the  devil, 
dare  not  risk  them  under  such  an  exposure.  I  was  compelled 
to  close  the  meeting.  As  he  thought  how  much  he  had  done 
to  fit  men  for  destruction,  he  "  wept  bitterly." 

I  preached  in  the  Temple  five  weeks,  and  those  who  took 
note  of  the  progress  of  the  work,  told  me  that,  as  the  result  of 
the  two  meetings,  there  had  been  five  hundred  souls  con- 
verted. 

I  preached  my  farewell  sermon  in  the  large  house  in 
Bowdoin  Square,  in  which,  nineteen  years  before,  I  had  been 
permitted  to  proclaim  the  truth  of  God,  though  surrounded  by 
an  infuriated  mob. 


180  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

Since  then  the  Tremont  Temple  and  Union  churches  have 
united,  and  now  meet  in  the  Temple.  A  noble  band  of  devoted, 
self-sacrificing  servants  of  God  are  there,  devising  liberal  things 
for  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  and  cordially  cooperating  with 
their  beloved  pastor,  brother  J.  D.  Fulton,  in  every  good  word 
and  work. 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  181 


CHAPTER    XX. 

ACCOUNTS   OF    PROTRACTED    MEETINGS. 
(CONTINUED.) 

WILMINGTON:  A  former  Visit.  —  Present  Meeting  of  great  Power. — 
A  new  Church  started.  —  PHILADELPHIA  :  The  Bethel.  —  A  floating 
Church.  —  Many  Conversions.  —  The  Fourth  Baptist  Church.  —  A 
happy  Birthday.  —  Great  Results.  —  Interesting  Conversions.  — 
Valuable  Accessions.  —  NEWARK  :  Harmonious  Churches. —  General 
Interest.  —  Union  Prayer-Meeting.  —  ELIZABETH  :  A  Threefold 
Call.  —  A  divine  Answer.  —  NEW  YORK  CITY:  A  Contrast. — 
Business  and  Religion.  —  A  Farewell  Service.  —  Labors  in  other 
Places.  —  TRENTON  :  Baptism  of  Children.  —  Numerous  Con- 
versions. —  Ablessed  Season.  —  Reflections.  —  Going  to  California. 

WILMINGTON. 

IN  the  year  1844,  I  held  a  meeting  with  the  Second  Baptist 
church  in  Wilmington,  Del.,  then  under  the  care  of  the  late 
Morgan  J.  Rhees,  in  which  about  two  hundred  souls  were  con- 
verted. 

Near  the  beginning  of  January,  1865,  I  was  again  invited  to 
the  same  church,  at  the  instance  of  the  pastor,  brother  James 
S.  Dickerson.  Brother  Dickerson  was  converted  under  my 
ministry  twenty-five  years  before,  in  the  Mulberry  Street  meet- 
ing, New  York. 

I  had  not  preached  long  before  the  meetings  became  very 
interesting.  Every  night  witnessed  new  cases  for  prayer,  and 
new  instances  of  conversion.  After  dismissing  the  meetings  the 
people  were  loath  to  leave,  and  all  seemed  intent  in  talking  with 
the  convicted  and  encouraging  the  converted. 

At  first  the  conversions  occurred  mostly  among  the  women, 


182  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

especially  among  the  young  ladies  connected  with  the  Suivduy 
school.  But  very  soon  the  young  men  began  to  be  interested, 
and  finally  many  from  the  ranks  of  the  more  advanced  in  age, 
both  men  and  women,  were  brought  to  bow  to  the  power  of  the 
cross. 

This  blessed  work  went  on  until  two  hundred  were  baptized 
into  the  fellowship  of  the  church  ;  and  before  I  left  the  place 
preparations  were  made  for  starting  another  church,  and  a  lot 
was  secured  with  that  end  in  view.  Since  then  the  new  church 
has  been  constituted,  and  has  a  pastor. 

PHILADELPHIA. 

On  the  22d  day  of  October,  1865,  I  commenced  a  meeting 
with  the  Bethel  Baptist  church  in  Philadelphia,  Pa.  I  found 
the  pastor,  brother  J.  M.  Perry,  to  be  a  warm-hearted  man, 
ready  to  do  anything  for  the  salvation  of  sinners.  The  church 
had  a  small  congregation,  because  so  many  of  the  members  did 
"  business  on  the  great  waters."  In  fact  it  may  be  termed  a 
floating  church  :  its  members  are  to  be  found  in  every  part  of 
the  globe.  Many  of  them  belong  to  the  United  States  navy, 
and  are  liable  to  be  called  away  in  the  service  at  any  moment, 
and  likely  to  remain  away  for  years  at  a  time.  Still  there 
seems  always  to  be  a  few  on  land,  who  are  ready  to  labor  to  keep 
up  the  organization,  and  continue  the  power  of  the  church  to  do 
good. 

I  preached  in  the  Bethel  five  weeks,  during  which  time 
seventy-five  persons  were  baptized ;  and  after  I  left  the  work, 
it  went  on  under  the  labors  of  brother  Perry,  until  nearly  two 
hundred  converts  were  added  to  the  church  as  the  fruit  of  this 
revival.  Several  of  these  were  officers  in  the  military  and 
marine  service. 

On  the  Lord's  day,  December  3,  1865,  I  commenced  a 
meeting  in  the  Fourth  Baptist  church,  under  the  care  of  brother 
R.  Jeffery.  Here  I  preached  every  night,  at  half  past  seven 
o'clock,  having  a  prayer-meeting  before  and  after  the  sei'mon. 

In    my  journal,   under   date   of  the    7th  of  this    mouth,    I 


ELDER    JACOB   KNAPP.  183 

say,  "  This  is  my  birthday,  and  also  the  day  of  national 
thanksgiving.  I  preached  in  the  afternoon  on  the  '  Goodness 
of  God,'  and  in  the  evening  on  '  God's  love  to  man.'  This 
has  been  truly  a  blessed  day  to  my  soul  —  the  most  happy 
birthday  I  have  ever  enjoyed.  Have  had  great  liberty  in 
preaching.  Three  souls  were  converted  —  the  first  fruits  of  the 
meeting.  All  day  long  my  heart  has  been  overflowing  with 
gratitude  to  God  :  first,  for  a  good  constitution  ;  second,  because 
I  was  born  in  a  Christian  land ;  third,  for  a  fair  education ; 
fcmrth,  for  the  experience  of  the  new  birth  ;  fifth,  because  God 
has  '  counted  me  worthy  '  putting  me  into  the  ministry ;  sixth, 
for  the  great  success  which  has  attended  my  efforts  to  win  souls 
to  Christ." 

I  preached  in  this  church  seven  weeks.  On  the  last  Sabbath 
of  my  stay  the  pastor  gave  the  hand  of  fellowship  to  ninety- 
three  persons,  eighty-seven  of  whom  had  been  baptized  during 
the  month ;  and  the  work  continued  for  several  weeks  longer, 
until  two  hundred  souls  were  converted,  and  added  to  the 
church. 

There  were  numerous  instances  of  interesting  conversions. 
One  fine-looking  German  rose  in  one  of  the  meetings,  and  in 
broken  language,  but  eloquent  in  earnest  simplicity,  related  how 
he  had  been  educated  a  Romanist,  but  had  been  induced  to  read 
the  Bible  at  the  solicitation  of  his  servant  girl,  a  member  of 
that  church,  and  had  from  her  learned  of  the  way  of  salvation 
through  Christ,  and  that  he  had  come  to  that  meeting  with  a 
determination  to  profess  Christ  at  once.  He  came  out  clearly 
into  the  light,  and  remains  to  this  day  steadfast  in  his  zeal  for 
Christ. 

A  young  man  related  that  he  had  been  a  drunkard,  and 
addicted  to  every  vice,  but  had  recently  been  led,  by  the  preach- 
ing of  Elder  Knapp,  to  reform,  and  seek  forgiveness  of  the 
Savior.  Since  then  he  had  computed  the  amount  which  he  had 
been  accustomed  to  spend  in  drink,  and  resolved  to  dedicate 
that  sum  to  the  cause  of  Christ.  He  used  to  spend  fifty  cents 
a  day  for  liquor,  and  he  thought  lie  ought  now  to  devote  as 
much  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel. 


184  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OP 

Among  the  accessions  to  the  church  in  connection  with  this 
meeting  were  several  persons  of  education  ancf  influence  in  the 
community,  and  in  working  power  the  church  received  great 
strength. 

•  When  I  came  to  Philadelphia  I  was  strongly  in  hopes  that 
the  way  would  be  opened  for  my  remaining  until  the  whole  city 
was  roused  up,  and  at  least  twenty  thousand  souls  were  con- 
verted. But  I  found  the  people  of  Philadelphia  slow  to  move, 
tenacious  of  their  own  way  of  doing  things,  and  satisfied  tc 
trudge  along  "  in  the  way  their  fathers  trod."  Some  other  of 
the  churches  talked  somewhat  of  asking  me  to  visit  them,  but 
were  so  long  in  coming  to  a  decision  that  I  was  unable  to  wait 
their  movements.  I  closed  my  labors  with  the  Fourth  church, 
Philadelphia,  on  one  day,  and  commenced  on  the  next  with  one 
of  the  churches  ill 

NEWARK,  N.  J. 

There  are  five  Baptist  churches  in  this  city.  All  move  on  in 
delightful  harmony  with  each  other.  The  several  pastors  agreed 
to  unite  in  the  effort,  as  far  as  their  distances  from  each  other 
would  permit.  I  commenced  preaching  in  the  First  church, 
brother  H.  C.  Fish,  pastor,  and  in  the  evening  at  the  church  of 
which  brother  J.  M.  Levy  is  pastor.  This  arrangement  was 
continued  for  two  weeks.  I  preached  one  week  in  the  Fifth 
church,  and  four  weeks  in  brother  Levy's  church.  In  all,  there 
were  converted,  and  added  to  the  Baptist  churches,  between 
three  and  four  hundred  souls.  Besides,  the  truth  of  God  took 
hold  of  all  the  people,  and  churches  of  other  names  opened  their 
doors,  and  commenced  extra  meetings,  at  which  hundreds  of 
persons  were  brought  to  Christ. 

In  the  progress  of  this  meeting  all  the  Baptist  churches  met 
together,  "  with  one  accord,  in  one  place,  to  make  prayer  and 
supplication."  The  Spirit  came  down  with  Pentecostal  power. 
The  pastors  led  the  way,  confessing  their  sins.  The  entire  day, 
until  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  was  spent  in  mutual  con- 
fessions and  earnest  prayers.  At  that  hour  I  preached  a  sermon 
about  breaking  up  the  fallow  ground.  I  preached  again  in  the 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  185 

evening,  having  abstained  from  food  all  day.  I  felt  no  in- 
convenience by  reason  of  my  abstinence,  but  great  elevation 
of  soul  in  my  communions  with  God,  and  great  satisfaction  in 
eating  of  the  manna  which  fell  from  heaven. 

While  laboring  in  this  place,  I  received  a  peculiar  call  from 
the  people  of  the  neighboring  city  of 

ELIZABETH. 

I  was  invited,  first,  by  a  unanimous  call  from  the  church  and 
pastor ;  second,  from  a  company  of  unconverted  young  men ; 
third,  from  a  circle  of  young  ladies  who  had  not  yet  professed 
Christ.  Though  pressed  with  invitations  to  go  to  other  places, 
these  singular  coincidences  impressed  me  with  the  conviction 
that  I  ought  to  recognize  this  call.  I  therefore  went,  and 
preached  two  weeks,  night  and  day.  Nearly  all  the  young 
gentlemen  and  ladies  referred  to  were  converted,  besides  many 
others.  The  faithful  little  band  of  God's  people  in  this  place 
were  greatly  strengthened. 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 

On  the  24th  day  of  March,  1866,  I  found  myself  about 
to  commence,  once  more,  a  campaign  in  the  city  of  New 
York. 

I  began  in  the  Laight  Street  church,  brother  R.  McDougal, 
pastor. 

My  return  to  the  city,  after  an  absence  of  more  than  twenty 
years,  was  very  cordial.  Fifteen  ministers  came  to  hear  me 
preach  on  the  first  afternoon,  and  to  bid  me  welcome.  Several 
of  them  had  been  converted  under  my  ministry,  and  three  of 
them  had  been  baptized  by  me.  During  my  stay  here,  I  was 
called  upon  daily  by  very  many  Christians  from  all  parts  of  the 
city  and  state,  who  ascribed  their  conversions,  under  God,  to  my 
labors. 

My  heart  was  very  much  affected  by  these  soul-stirring 
interviews.  The  goodness  of  God  shone  before  me  with  a  new 
lustre.  I  remembered  the  time  when  I  first  came  to  the  city, 
14 


186  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

and  the  distrust  with  which  my  labors  were  regarded,  and  the 
purposed  neglect  with  which  I  was  treated ;  and  as  I  felt  the 
contrast,  my  heart  was  melted  in  gratitude  to  God  for  the 
change,  and  that  he  had  permitted  me  to  live  to  see  it.  The 
entire  order  of  things  is  changed.  Nearly  all  the  ministers 
who  now  occupy  the  pulpits  of  the  city,  and,  in  fact,  of  the 
denomination  throughout  the  country,  were  converted  in  pro- 
tracted meetings,  or  in  connection  with  revival  measures.  If 
all  things  in  the  churches  had  continued  as  they  were  in  1834, 
I  wonder  where  the  supply  of  ministers  would  have  come  from. 
Rather,  I  may  ask,  would  there  have  been  churches  enough  to 
have  engaged  the  few  ministers  that  would  have  remained  to 
us  ?  I  do  not  claim  that  the  change  is  owing  to  my  labors,  but 
I  do  say,  that  the  very  measures  which  I  introduced,  and  on 
account  of  which  I  suffered  persecution,  are  now  almost  uni- 
versally adopted  and  relied  upon  as  those  on  which  the  blessing 
of  God  is  most  likely  to  rest.  As  these  thoughts  were  revived 
in  my  mind  by  these  kind  assurances,  I  felt  like  appropriating 
the  prayer  of  good  old  Simeon  :  "  Lord,  now  lettest  thy  servant 
depart  in  peace,  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation." 

I  continued  preaching,  every  afternoon  and  evening,  for  four 
weeks.  I  preached,  also,  a  few  sermons  in  several  of  the  other 
churches  —  the  McDougal  Street,  Jersey  City,  Forty-second 
Street,  and  also  for  brother  S.  Corey. 

Beginning,  as  I  did,  in  the  spring,  just  as  business  was 
becoming  active,  I  found  it  difficult  to  engage  the  attendance  of 
the  merchants  and  of  the  clerks.  As  a  consequence,  the  results 
were  not  as  extensive  as  they  might  have  been  otherwise,  for 
now,  as  in  Paul's  day,  "  faith  cometh  by  hearing."  Never- 
theless our  labors  were  not  in  vain.  About  ninety  souls  pro- 
fessed conversion,  fifty  of 'whom  united  with  the  Laight  Street 
church,  and  the  rest  with  the  different  churches  in  the  city. 

At  the  close  of  this  meeting  arrangements  were  made  for  a 
farewell  service.  It  so  happened  that  the  day  was  stormy ; 
rivers  of  water  ran  down  the  streets,  and  the  wind  blew  a 
hurricane  ;  nevertheless,  a  large  congregation  assembled  at  the 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  187 

church.  After  a  sermon  from  myself,  remarks  were  made  by 
brethren  Westcott,  Corey,  Weston,  and  Graves.  Brother 
Westcott,  in  behalf  of  his  brethren  in  the  ministry,  invited  me 
to  return  the  next  autumn  for  a  winter's  campaign. 

I  will  not  attempt  to  recount  the  many  kind  utterances  that 
came  from  the  lips  of  these  brethren ;  but  if  an  angel  had  told 
me,  thirty-two  years  ago,  that  in  1866  such  a  scene  would  have 
occurred,  I  should  have  inquired  for  a  sign  from  heaven  to 
confirm  his  testimony.  Yet  I  gratefully  bless  God  that  he 
has  permitted  me  to  have  so  great  a  share  in  producing 
the  changes  that  have  come  over  the  spirit  of  the  ministry  and 
the  churches  ;  and  even  if  my  name  were  to  be  blotted  out 
of  the  record,  and  the  memory  of  me  fail  from  the  earth,  I 
could  labor  just  as  earnestly  for  the  triumph  of  the  truth  as  it 
is  in  Jesus ;  and  in  its  progressive  triumph  I  could  rejoice,  yea, 
and  greatly  rejoice,  for  Christ  is  all,  and  what  are  we  but  his 
ministers  ?  I  say  this  in  all  humility,  for  I  know  my  weaknesses 
better  than  my  brethren  do,  and  feel  daily  the  need  of  the  grace 
of  God  to  keep  me  from  falling. 

I  ought  to  add,  that  I  received  a  cordial  and  sympathizing 
cooperation  from  brother  McDougal.  the  pastor  of  the  church. 

During  the  remainder  of  this  year  I  spent  considerable  time 
with  the  churches  in  Cohoes,  Bloomingdale  (New  York  City), 
Waverly,  Elmira,  and  Homer,  N.  Y.  In  each  of  these  places 
I  was  permitted  to  rejoice  over  several  converts ;  but  none  of 
the  meetings  were  marked  with  incidents  that  were  different 
from  those  which  I  have  related  as  having  occurred  elsewhere. 

TRENTON. 

On  the  7th  day  of  February,  1867,  I  entered  upon  my 
labors  with  the  Central  Baptist  church  in  Trenton,  N.  J.,  brother 
T.  S.  Griffith,  pastor.  I  found  the  church  prepared  for  my 
coming.  Conversions  occurred  every  day.  On  a  certain  Sab- 
bath, brother  Griffith  baptized  seventeen  children  belonging  to 
the  Sunday  school,  and  an  invitation  was  given  to  all  the 
Sunday  school  children  to  be  present.  A  vast  congregation 


188  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 

assembled.  The  candidates  were  dressed  in  white,  and  the 
solemn  impression  made  on  the  minds  of  the  youthful  spectators 
will  never  be  effaced. 

On  the  Sabbath  following  seventy  persons  received  the  hand 
of  fellowship,  and  the  material  and  moral  power  of  the  church 
was  greatly  increased. 

The  meetings  continued  throughout  seven  weeks,  the  interest 
gradually  increasing  to  the  last.  I  enjoyed  the  labors  with  this 
dear  people  greatly.  There  was  no  friction,  no  complaining 
about  measures,  no  disposition  to  find  fault  with  the  plain  and 
outspoken  presentation  of  the  gospel.  As  the  result  of  my 
labors  here  about  two  hundred  persons  were  added  to  the 
Central  church,  and  about  one  hundred  to  the  First  church. 

REFLECTIONS. 

In  the  foregoing  accounts  I  have  made  mention  of  only  some 
of  the  many  meetings  which  I  have  held  during  the  past  thirty- 
five  years.  It  would  have  required  volumes  to  contain  a 
history  of  them  all.  I  have  omitted  to  allude  to  some,  because 
the  memory  of  distinct  incidents  has  faded  from  my  mind ;  I 
have  passed  over  others,  because  the  incidents,  though  interest- 
ing, did  not  differ  materially  from  those  which  I  have  related 
as  occurring  in  other  places ;  and  I  have  remained  silent  con- 
cerning others,  because  I  could  not  give  a  fair  statement  without 
alluding  to  circumstances  which  would  reflect  on  others,  some 
of  whom  have  passed  beyond  the  reach  of  human  censure. 

I  am  now  an  old  man.  I  have  outlived  the  generation  of  my 
early  associates.  Multitudes  of  those  who  have  professed  con- 
version under  my  labors  have  gone  to  the  judgment  before  me, 
and  the  influence  of  my  labors  will  be  projected  into  the  future 
after  I' shall  have  gone  to  my  account.  I  realize  that  my  life 
has  been  burdened  with  fearful  responsibilities.  The  destinies 
of  multitudes,  dead,  living,  and  yet  unborn,  are  linked  with  the 
influences  I  have  exerted. 

As  I  have  commended  others  to  the  mercy  of  God  through 
Christ,  so  I  look  to  the  same  source  for  the  pardon  of  my  sins, 


ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  189 

and  the  overruling  of  all  my  mistakes.  And  though  deeply 
conscious  of  my  failings  and  errors,  I  am,  nevertheless,  sustained 
with  the  conviction  that  God  has  made  me  the  agent  for  the 
accomplishment  of  great  good ;  and  I  trustfully  look  forward 
to  the  gracious  recognition  of  my  Savior  when  the  results  of  my 
life-work  shall  be  summed  up. 

I  thank  God  that  he  has  permitted  me  to  live  to  my  present 
age,  and  continued  me  in  good  health,  my  "  eye  not  dimmed, 
nor  my  natural  force  abated."  At  my  advanced  stage  of  life 
many  ministers  have  felt  themselves  compelled  to  retire  from 
active  service,  and  guard  themselves  against  their  increasing 
infirmities,  but  through  the  goodness  of  God  I  am  permitted  to 
labor  for  souls  a  little  longer.  Of  late  I  have  felt  constrained 
to  go  to  California,  and  it  may  be  that  I  shall  not  be  spared 
to  return ;  but  before  the  eyes  of  the  reader  will  fall  on  these 
pages  I  expect  to  reach  those  distant  shores,  and  be  preaching 
the  gospel  to  the  people  of  the  setting  sun. 


190  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OP 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

MISCELLANEOUS  FACTS. 

Numbers  converted.  —  Baptized.  —  Answers  to  Questions.  —  Number 
of  Meetings  held. —  Of  Sermons  preached.  —  Of  Converts  who 
became  Ministers.  —  Amount  of  Compensation. 

NUMBER  OF  CONVERSIONS. 

FOR  a  time  I  endeavored  to  keep  an  approximate  account 
of  the  number  of  persons  who  professed  conversion  in  my 
meetings,  but  after  my  reckonings  took  in  more  than  one 
hundred  thousand  cases  I  gave  up  the  attempt.  They  came 
in  such  crowds,  from  all  denominations ;  so  many  united  with 
other  churches,  and  so  many  were  reported  in  meetings  com- 
menced by  me  after  I  had  left,  and  so  many  were  strangers 
from  distant  towns  and  states,  sojourning  for  a  few  days  or 
weeks  where  I  was  preaching,  and  so  many  other  meetings 
sprang  from  those  I  was  holding,  that  I  found  the  attempt  to 
number  Israel  an  impossibility,  and  suspected  that  it  might  be  a 
sin.  I  must,  therefore,  refer  the  answer  to  this  inquiry  to  the 
statistics  of  the  Judgment,  which  will  be  more  accurate  than 
my  most  careful  endeavors  could  possibly  make  it.  I  aban- 
doned the  effort  to  reckon  numbers  more  than  twenty  years  ago. 

NUMBERS  BAPTIZED. 

I  have  baptized  only  a  small  proportion  of  those  who  have 
been  added  to  the  churches  in  connection  with  my  labors.  1st. 
Because  many  united  with  other  denominations.  2d.  Because, 
as  a  general  thing,  it  seemed  desirable  and  proper  that  the 
pastors  with  whom  I  labored  should  administer  the  ordinance. 


ELDER   JACOB    KNAPP.  191 

3d.  Because,  specially,  I  have  always  felt  that  "  Christ  sent 
me,  not  to  baptize,  but  to  preach  the  gospel." 

Up  to  the  year  1845  I  had  baptized  about  four  thousand 
persons,  and  since  then  about  a  thousand  more. 

ANSWERS  TO  CERTAIN  QUESTIONS. 

A  bi-other,  who  had  heard  that  I  was  thinking  of  preparing 
an  account  of  my  life,  has  requested  me  to  give  a  statement  in 
regard  to  certain  inquiries.  I  indicate  his  questions,  and  give 
such  answers  as  I  am  able. 

1.  Number  of  meetings  which  I  have  held  to   this  date, 
July,  1867. 

Answer.   About  one  hundred  and  fifty. 

2.  Number  of  sermons  which  I  have  preached. 
Answer.   About  one  thousand  three  hundred  and  sixty. 

3.  Number  of  persons  converted  under  my  labors  who  have 
entered  the  ministry. 

Ansiver.  I  cannot  speak  with  accuracy  on  this  subject. 
Many  young  men,  whose  names  I  have  forgotten,  have  come 
to  the  conclusion  to  become  ministers  months  and  years  after  I 
have  lost  sight  of  them.  I  am  constantly  meeting  persons,  now 
preaching  the  gospel,  who  inform  me  that  they  were  brought 
out  in  meetings  which  I  have  held.  I  can  recall  several. 

There  were  six  young  men,  converted  in  the  Tabernacle 
church,  New  York,  at  my  meeting,  who  became  ministers  :  broth- 
er A.  C.  Buckbee,  now  Secretary  of  the  American  Bible  Union, 
in  California ;  James  S.  Dickerson,  now  pastor  of  the  First 
Baptist  church,  Pittsburg,  Pa.  ;  Sidney  A.  Corey,  now  pastor  of 
a  Baptist  church  in  New  York  city  ;  H.  Harvey,  formerly  Pro- 
fessor of  Biblical  Literature  in  Madison  University,  and  lately 
pastor  of  the  Baptist  church  in  Dayton,  Ohio.  Of  the  names 
of  the  other  two  I  am  not  sufficiently  certain  to  justify  me  in 
reporting  them. 

Besides  these,  I  remember  the  names  of  brother  J.  R.  Ken- 
drick,  now  pastor  of  the  Tabernacle  Baptist  church,  New  York 
city,  who  was  converted  at  Hamilton ;  J.  B.  Tombes,  pastor 


192  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

of  the  Baptist  church  in  Carbondale,  Pa. ;  S.  M.  Bainbridge,  well 
known  in  Central  New  York,  now  deceased ;  H.  Hutchins,  for 
many  years,  and  yet  a  pastor  in  Brooklyn ;  B.  Griffith,  Corre- 
sponding Secretary  of  the  American  Baptist  Publishing  Socie- 
ty, Philadelphia ;  Franklin  Wilson,  of  Baltimore ;  J.  B.  Jack- 
son, now  Professor  of  Biblical  Literature  in  Chicago  College 
of  Theology ;  Professor  Roberts,  of  Burlington  University. 
Iowa.  Besides  these,  I  remember  the  names  of  Raymond,  now 
of  Kansas ;  Clark,  of  Newark,  New  Jersey ;  By  water,  of 
St.  Louis ;  Wilbur,  of  Iowa ;  Fisher  and  Waterbury,  of 
New  York. 

A  student  in  Union  College  told  me  that  he  knew  the  names 
of  twelve  young  men,  converted  in  my  meetings  in  Schenectady, 
who  had  entered  the  ministry.  I  have  been  informed  that 
about  this  number  of  converts  in  Yale  College,  during  my  meet- 
ings in  New  Haven,  became  ministers.  There  were  five  young 
men  converted  in  the  Utica  meeting  who  became  ministers. 

I  can  speak  of  about  forty,  converted  in  five  meetings,  who 
entered  the  ministry:  In  Schenectady,  12;  New  Haven,  12; 
Tabernacle  church,  New  York,  6 ;  Utica,  5 ;  Baltimore,  5. 
Total,  40. 

4.   Amount  of  compensation. 

Answer.  During  the  first  seven  years  of  my  labors  as 

an  Evangelist  my  salary  averaged  $300  per  annum,     $2,100 
From  1839  to  1843  (four  years)  it  averaged  $2,000 

per  annum, '   .       8,000 

During   sixteen  years  of  labor  in  the  West  it  aver- 
aged $380  per  annum, 6,080 

During  the  remaining  ten  years  it  averaged  $500  per 

annum, 5,000 

In  all,  during  thirty-six  years,  it  has  amounted  to  .     .   $21,180 


Divide  this  amount  ($21,180)  by  thirty-six  years,  and 

my  annual  compensation  has  averaged  ....  $588.31 

Deduct,  for  annual  travelling  expenses,  say  ....  88.31 

and  I  have  realized,  per  annum, $500.00 


VIEWS  ON  VARIOUS  SUBJECTS. 


I. 

» 

HONORARY  TITLES. 

I  CONSIDER  the  custom  of  conferring  titles  of  distinction 
on  ministers  of  the  gospel  to  be  wrong. 

1.  In  the  first  place,  the  explicit  language  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture forbids  it.  Elihu  said,  "  I  know  not  to  give  flattering 
titles ;  in  so  doing  my  Maker  would  take  me  away."  When 
there  arose  a  dispute  among  his  disciples  as  to  who  should  be 
greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  "  Jesus  called  a  little  child 
unto  him,  and  set  him  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  said,  Verily,  I 
say  unto  you,  except  ye  be  converted  and  become  as  little  chil- 
dren, ye  shall  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Whosoever 
therefore  shall  humble  himself  as  this  little  child,  the  same  is 
greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Matt,  xviii.  1-4.  Again, 
Jesus  said  unto  his  disciples,  "  Whosoever  will  be  great  among 
you,  let  him  be  your  minister ;  and  whosoever  will  be  chief 
among  you,  let  him  be  your  servant."  Matt.  xx.  26,  27.  Christ 
presented  his  own  example  as  the  model,  after  which  all  his 
followers  should  copy.  "  I  am  among  you  as  he  that  serveth." 
Luke  xxii.  27. 

How  much  more  dignified  and  godlike  is  the  spirit  hei'e  in- 
culcated and  insisted  upon  as  the  condition  of  our  entering  into 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  than  the  foolish  strife  and  unholy  rivalry 
among  men  as  to  who  shall  be  the  greatest.  The  very  spirit 
of  emulation  involved  in  this  anxiety,  is  essentially  contrary  to 
that  spirit  of  humility  and  meekness  which  the  gospel  enjoins. 

It  is  said  that  the  title,  D.  D.,  only  means  a  doctor  or  teacher 
of  divinity ;  then  why  not  confer  it  on  all  who  teach  divinity, 


194  HONORARY  TITLES,  BY 

and  thus  make  no  distinction?  But  many  desire  it  because' it 
makes  a  distinction,  and  many  experience  heart-burnings  and 
jealousies  because  they  do  not  get  it.  Thus  the  practice  is  a 
double-edged  sword ;  it  cuts  those  who  receive  the  honor,  and 
those  who  feel  themselves  slighted  because  they  do  not  receive 
it.  The  church  of  Christ  should  discountenance  whatever  tends 
to  foster  such  states  of  mind. 

2.  In  the  second  place,  no  body  of  men  have  the  right  to 
confer  it.     Christ  never   gave  such  authority.      None   of  the 
apostles  did.     Their  example  is  against  it.     Who  ever  heard 
of  Rev.  Mr.  Paul,  D.  D.,  or  of  the  Riglit  Rev.  Simon  Peter, 
D.  D.  ?    These  titles  originated,  not  in  the  apostolic  church,  but 
in  the  spirit  of  vaulting  ambition,  which  culminated  in  the  blas- 
phemous assumptions  of  the  church  of  Rome. 

3.  In  the  third  place,  the  reception  of  the  title  is  unworthy  of 
the  dignity  of  the  ministerial  office.    Our  ministers  need  not  come 
down  from  the  sacred  hill  of  Zion,  and  kneel  before  the  sceptre 
of  civil  or  literary  power  in  order  to  receive  titular  distinctions, 
whereby  they  may  be  known  as  ministers  of  the  meek  and  lowly 
Jesus.     This  practice  is  virtually  a  repudiation  of  the  authority 
of  Christ,  and  a  weak  and  wicked  subserviency  to  the  maxims 
of  this  world.     It  is  well  known  that,  in  many  instances,  these 
titles  are  bought  and  sold,  as  were  the  pardons  and  indulgences 
of  the  church  of  Rome ;  and  it  has  come  to  be  regarded  no 
longer  a  sign  of  the  worth  or  learning  of  its  recipient.     In  nu- 
merous   cases   the  very  association    of  this  title  with   certain 
names  involuntarily  excites  the  mental  inquiry,  How  did  they 
get  it?   In  some  cases  ministers  of  the  gospel  have  fallen  so  low 
as  to  solicit  the  Board  of  a  College  to  bestow  on  them  the  title. 
In  other  cases  the  minister  resorts  to  indirection.     His  friends 
move  in  the  matter.     Nor  will  it  be  denied  that  in  many  cases 
the  College  Board  have  as  much  regard  to  pecuniary  returns 
as  they  do  to  the  deservedness  of  the  candidate.     There  are 
many  D.  D.'s  in  modern  times  who  cannot  preach  a  sermon 
without  murdering  the  queen's  English,  and  whose  chief  dis- 
tinction in  the  ministry  is  their  want  of  success  in  winning  souls. 


ELDER    JACOB   KNAPP.  195 

I  know  there  are  many  on  whom  the  title  has  been  conferred 
to  whom  these  remarks  do  not  apply,  and  who  would  prefer  to 
dispense  with  it,  if  they  know  how  to  get  rid  of  it.  I  am 
aware  that  there  are  many  ahle  and  worthy  men  who  have 
been  dubbed  with  this  title,  and  these  are  the  very  men  who 
care  the  least  about  it. 

For  my  own  part,  I  consider  it  more  honorable  to  a  minister 
of  Jesus  Christ  to  be  pelted  with  stones,  smitten  with  clubs,  and 
hooted  through  the  streets,  — as  were  Whitefield  and  Wesley,  — 
than  to  receive  all  the  titles  which  civil  governments  or  schools 
of  learning  can  get  up  or  confer. 

Finally,  it  is  my  heart's  desire  and  prayer  to  God,  that  the 
time  will  soon  come  when  all  Christians,  and  all  Christian 
churches,  will  be  content  to  stand  on  one  common  level ;  to 
esteem  each  other  better  than  themselves,  and  seek  honor  only 
from  God,  and  lay  what  he  bestows  at  the  Savior's  feet. 


196  THOUGHTS   ON   MINISTERIAL  POWER,  BY 


II. 

THOUGHTS    ON   MINISTERIAL  POWER. 

IN  order  to  become  successful,  a  minister  of  the  gospel 
must  be  possessed  of  an  ardent  love  of  the  work.  He  must 
have  such  an  appreciation  of  it,  as  a  high  and  holy  calling,  that 
he  will  look  with  indifference  upon  every  other  pursuit.  His 
love  of  Christ  and  of  souls  must  serve  as  a  magnet  to  draw- 
away  his  interest  from  all  worldly  callings.  It  must  be  an  in- 
spiration to  propel  him  forward  under  all  discouragements,  and 
to  lead  him  to  "  count  not  his  life  dear  unto  himself,  that  he 
may  finish  his  course  with  joy,  and  the  ministry  which  he  has 
received  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  He  must  be  able  to  say  to  all 
worldly  allurements,  as  did  Robert  Hall  when  urged  to  accept  a 
position  of  greater  emolument  than  that  of  a  Baptist  preacher  : 
"  As  for  your  honors,  I  desire  them  not ;  and  as  for  your  riches,  I 
despise  them." 

2.  To  be  successful,  a  minister  must  seek  for  immediate  suc- 
cess. It  is  a  favorite  method  with  some  ministers,  in  order  to 
account  for  their  failure  to  a  achieve  anything  for  Christ,  to  say 
they  are  sowing«the  seed,  the  fruit  of  which  another  will  gather. 
But  he  that  would  accomplish  much  for  his  race  must  "  serve 
his  own  generation."  He  must  know  that  sinners  are  dying, 
and,  unless  converted,  going  to  hell.  The  men  of  this  genera- 
tion must  be  brought  to  Christ  through  existing  agencies,  and 
the  minister  must  specially  feel  that  he  is  concerned  with  the 
care  of  the  individuals  whom  God  has  put  under  his  charge. 

A  man  who  has  no  success  in  saving  the  souls  of  those  to 
whom  he  ministers,  or  in  gathering  in  the  people  of  the  place  in 


ELDER    JACOB    KNAPP.  197 

which  he  preaches,  may  seriously  question  whether  God  has 
called  him  to  the  work.  It  does  not  seem  reasonable  that  God 
would  give  a  special  call  to  a  man  to  go  and  labor  in  a  field  dur- 
ing the  harvest,  who  had  no  elements  of  adaptation  to  do  the 
thing  unto  which  he  thinks  himself  called.  I  am  sometimes: 
asked,  "  What  are  the  evidences  that  a  man  is  called  to  preach 
the  gospel  ?  "  I  answer,  first,  a  single  and  strong  desire  for  the 
work  ;  second,  indications  that  he  knows  how  to  preach  ;  third, 
evidence  that  he  can  get  any  body  to  hear  him ;  fourth,  success 
in  winning  souls  to  the  Savior. 

3.  Another  condition  of  a  minister's  power,  is  an  exclusive 
devotion  to  the  specific  duties  of  his  calling.  In  this  way  his 
profiting  shall  appear  unto  all.  His  work  is  too  important  to 
admit  of  a  rival,  and  his  time  too  short  to  be  made  still  shorter 
by  wasting  it  in  matters  foreign  to  his  calling.  What  would 
be  thought  of  a  foreign  minister  of  state  who  should  turn  aside 
from,  and  neglect  the  interests  of  his  government,  in  order  to 
amuse  or  profit  himself?  If  the  apostles  had  taken  such  a 
course  they  would  have  insured  the  failure  of  Christianity,  and 
perverted  its  entire  spirit.  They  could  not  find  time  to  attend 
to  the  distribution  of  the  charities  of  the  church,  and  referred 
the  charge  of  that  matter  to  others,  in  order  that  they  might 
devote  themselves  wholly  "  to  prayer  and  the  ministry  of  the 
word." 

It  is  true  that  they  sometimes  worked  at  business  callings  in 
order  to  provide  for  their  daily  wants ;  but  this  they  did  only  in 
subordination  to  their  high  calling,  and  in  order  to  insure  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel,  and  the  preaching  of  it  with  greater 
effect  among  the  people  whose  salvation  they  sought.  But  they 
tell  us  that  they  were  naked  and  hungry,  and  suffered  the  loss 
of  all  things,  lest  they  should  hinder  the  gospel  of  Christ. 

I  have  now  been  in  the  ministry  forty  years,  and  in  looking 
back,  can  see  clearly  that  if  I  had  never  lifted  my  finger  in  order 
to  promote  my  worldly  interests,  it  would  have  been  better  for 
me  and  for  my  family.  I  could  have  escaped  many  occasions  of 
personal  unhappiness,  and  have  greatly  added  to  my  power  to 


198  THOUGHTS  ON   MINISTERIAL  POWER,  BY 

do  good.  If  a  minister  of  Christ  have  faith  in  God,  and  make 
it  his  whole  concern  to  serve  him,  God  will  take  care  of  him. 
At  times  his  faith  may  be  tried,  but  if  it  does  not  stagger  under 
the  pressure,  he  will  find  God  to  be  as  good  as  his  promises : 
"  Trust  in  the  Lord  and  do  good,  and  thou  shalt  dwell  in  the 
land,  and  verily  thou  shalt  be  fed."  "  Thy  bread  shall  be  given 
thee,  and  thy  water  shall  be  sure."  And  if  we  are  sometimes 
brought  into  close  quarters,  we  shall  be  enriched  by  the  experi- 
mental knowledge  that  the  "  the  trial  of  our  faith  is  more 
precious  than  gold." 

4.  If  a  minister  would  have  power,  he  must  aim  in  his 
preaching  to  reach  the  consciences  of  his  hearers.  If  he 
preaches  so  as  to  improve  the  literary  tastes,  or  quicken  the 
intellectual  faculties,  or  gratify  the  aesthetic  tendencies  of  his 
hearers,  he  may  succeed  in  accomplishing  the  end  in  view,  but 
he  will  not  succeed  in  saving  souls.  If  he  aims  at  saying 
smooth  and  beautiful  things,  he  may  be  able  to  do  so,  and  thus 
gain  the  admiration  of  men  who  value  culture  in  the  preacher 
more  than  they  do  pungent  presentation  of  truth  ;  but  while 
ministering  to  the  literary  gratification  of  his  hearers,  he  may, 
at  the  same  time,  be  making  their  damnation  more  sure. 

Some  preachers  pride  themselves  on  their  metaphysical 
acumen  and  theological  accuracy.  They  have  more  to  say 
about  the  philosophy  of  religion  than  about  its  facts  ;  and  the  force 
of  their  ministry  is  expended  in  theorizing  about  the  methods 
of  truth,  rather  than  in  enforcing  the  reality  of  it.  They  demand 
a  faith  based  upon  the  apprehensions  of  reason  more  than  upon 
the  testimony  of  God.  The  result  is,  that  they  talk  about  things 
they  do  not  understand,  and  their  hearers  either  become  listless 
or  sceptical.  The  devil  is  well  satisfied  with  such  kind  of 
preaching.  He  is  willing  that  men's  minds  should  become 
mystified  about  theories  so  long  as  they  allow  him  to  control 
their  hearts. 

The  successful  preacher  must  be  practical.  He  must  make 
religion  appear  to  be  a  thing  that  has  something  to  do  with  the 
moral  convictions ;  that  appeals  to  them,  and  demands  the 
immediate  consecration  of  them  to  the  claims  of  God. 


ELDER  JA'JOB  KNA'/P.  109 

5.  Tae  preacher  must  study  adaptation.     It  is  seldom  that 
preaching  produces  saving  results,  except  it  takes  effect  at  the 
time,  and  brings  a  person  to  speedy  action.     Consequently  the 
preacher  cannot  appreciate  too  highly  the  importance  of  timing 
his  subjects.     It  would  be  very  unwise  to  come  out  on  a  cold 
church  and  congregation  with  a  sermon  on  the  awful  terrors  of 
everlasting  damnation.     Their  feelings  would  be  shocked,  and 
their  pride  would  array  itself  in  rebellion ;  but  let  him  first  re- 
mind them  of  their  "  first  love,"  and  call  on  them  to  return 
unto  it ;  let  him  inquire  why  Jesus  has  been  to  them  as  a  way- 
faring man  that  turneth  aside  for  a  night,  and  tell  them  much 
of  the  greatness  of  God's  love  to  them.     In  this  way,  if  they  are 
Christians  indeed,  the  hearts  of  his  hearers  will  be  melted. 
Then  let  the  preacher  speak  of  the  terrors  of  the  law,  and  the 
Christians  will  be  aroused  to  labor  for  souls,  and  the  wicked 
will  quail  under  its  power. 

6.  The  power  of  the  pulpit  depends  very  much  on  the  style 
of  language  employed  in  the  presentation  of  the  truth.     A  plain, 
clear,  correct,  and  common-sense  way  of  "  putting  "  the  thing 
before  a  congregation  is  the  only  effective  method  of  interesting 
and  reaching  the  masses.      The  apostle  says  expressly  that  he 
did  not  "  come  with  excellency  of  speech,  which  man's  wisdom 
teacheth  ;  "  and  "  if  I  seek  to  please  man,  I  am  no  more  the 
servant   of  Christ."      The   language   employed   by  the    holy 
apostles  is  the  model  of  all  succeeding  preachers.      It  is  the 
language  which  the  Spirit  of  God  has  seen  fit  to  employ  as  the 
vehicle  of  divine  truth.     Smooth  and  ornate  diction  is  not  in 
keeping  with  the  gravity  of  the  great  truths  contained  in  the 
Bible  ;  and  a  highly-wrought  style  is  unworthy  of  their  dignity, 
and  evidence  of  the  utter  want  of  appreciation  on  the  part  of 
the  preacher  of  the  momentous  issues  involved,  and  the  impend- 
ing danger  of  those  who  do  not  receive  them.     From  all  such 
stilted,  or  dry,  or  tinsel  displays,  the  common  people  will  ever- 
more  turn   away  unimpressed  if    not  disgusted.      To   many 
persons  much  of  the   language  of  the  pulpit  is  an  unknown 
tongue ;  and  Paul  says,  "  I  had  rather  speak  five  words  with 


200  THOUGHTS   ON   MLNISTERIAL  POWER,    BY 

the  understanding  (that  is,  to  the  understanding  of  others) ,  than 
ten  thousand  words  in  an  unknown  tongue." 

7.  The  man  who  has  power  in  the  pulpit  is  a  man  of  strong 
faith.     There  are  many  preachers  and  churches  who  are  afraid 
to  venture  on  the  promises  of  God.     They  are  afraid  to  go  to 
work  for  the  salvation  of  souls  unless  a  sign  be  given  them, 
lest  they  should  be  mortified  by  a  failure.     Thus  they  let  months 
and  years  pass  on,  and  souls  go  down  to  death  while  they  are 
waiting  for  indications.     God  honored  Abraham  above  all  men 
because  of  his  great  faith.     Paul,  in  speaking  of  the  different 
gifts,  says  "  one  has  the  gift  of  faith."      For  the  want  of  faith 
the  Israelites  were  doomed  to  drag  out  forty  years  in  the  wilder- 
ness, and  not  one  of  the  unbelievers  was  permitted  to  enter  into 
the  promised  land.     All  of  the   mighty  conquests   recorded  in 
Scripture  were  achieved  by  faith.     But  unbelief  cuts  off  com- 
munication with  God.     It  shuts  up  heaven,  and  paralyzes  all 
our  efforts  to  do  good.     "  Let  such  an  one  know  that  he  shall 
receive  nothing  at  the  hands  of  the  Lord." 

8.  In  order  to  have  power  as  a  preacher  the  minister  must 
have  knowledge.     First  of  all  he  must  know  God  ;  must  be  in 
sympathy    with    his    plans,    and    in    communion   with    him. 
Secondly,  he  must  know  himself,  so  as  neither  to  overrate  nor 
underrate  himself.     He  must  know  somewhat  the  direction  in 
which  his  own  power  lies.     Thirdly,  he  must  be  well  vei'sed  in 
the  Bible,  so  as  to  prove  himself  to  be  "  not  a  novice,"  but  "  a 
workman  that  needeth  not  to  be  ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the 
word  of  truth."     Fourthly,  he  must  have  a  good  knowledge  of 
human  nature. 

If  a  man  is  well  versed  in  these  things  he  will  not  fail  to 
make  his  mark.  He  will  become  powerful  for  good,  even 
though  he  may  not  have  much  of  that  knowledge  that  puffeth 
up.  Nevertheless  mere  scholastic  knowledge  is  good,  and  the 
more  a  preacher  has  of  it  the  better,  provided  always  he  have 
the  other  kinds  of  knowledge  and  grace,  and  sense  enough  to 
make  his  attainments  subordinate  and  illustrative  of  his  conse- 
cration to  the  one  aim  of  winning  souls. 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  201 

A  man  who  does  not  study,  but  spends  his  time  in  ministerial 
gossiping  and  loafing,  can  never  excel,  however  great  his 
genius  or  brilliant  his  intellect.  All  of  our  powers  are  strength- 
ened by  their  use. 

9.  Another  element  of  ministerial  power  is  the  spirit  of  love. 
No  amount  of  learning,  no  degree  of  genius,  nor  measure  of 
eloquence,  will    atone  for  the  lack  of  that  genuine   spirit  of 
sympathy  which  has  its  origin  in  love.     A  people  will  bear 
plain  dealing  from  one  who  can  rebuke  with  much  long-suffer- 
ing and  kindness.     They  will  overlook  many  defects  in  execu- 
tion on  the  part  of  one  of  whose  sincere  affection  for  them  they 
feel   assured.       There  is   eloquence  *ra*  love :  it  lights   up   the 
face    with    its   radiant    beams,   and   transmutes   the  glistening 
tear  into  a  precious  pearl.     It  magnetizes,  enkindles,  and  sub- 
dues. 

10.  Finally,  the  preacher  that  would  have  power  with  men 
must   have   power   with   God.     He   must   be   filled   with   the 
Spirit ;  and  so  greatly  filled,  that  all  other  rivals  for  the  control 
of  his  being  shall   be  expelled.     Much   is    said  in  the   New 
Testament  of  "  being  full  of  the  Holy  Spirit."     The  apostles 
gave   thanks   to  God,  who    always   made   them   to   triumph. 
Luther  was  powerful  only  as  God  was  with  him  and  in  him. 
Wesley  and   Whitefield  were  eloquent  and   powerful   because 
they  were   crucified  to  the  world,  and  because  "  Christ  lived 
in  them."     I  know  of  no  reason,  in  the  divine  economy,  why, 
if  there  be  an  equal  degree  of  seeking  for  it,  there  should  not 
be  marked  and  numerous  evidences  of  divine  effectiveness  in 
ministers  now  as  in  former  times.     God  is  as  willing  to  give 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  them  that  ask  him  now  as  he  was  formerly. 
And  the  promise  still  holds  good,  "  If  any  man  will  do  His 
will,  I  and  my  Father  will  come  to  him,  and  make  our  abode 
with  him." 

15 


202  HOW  TO  GET  UP  A   REFORMATION,  BY 


III. 

HOW   TO   GET   UP  A  REFORMATION. 

I  USE  this  phraseology,  because  it  is  the  very  language  of 
those  who  are  novices  concerning  this  subject,  and  make  so 
many  complaints  against  special  measures. 

God  works  by  means,  and  by  appointed  and  established 
means.  His  Spirit  is  hovering  over  all  of  our  cities,  towns, 
nnd  country  places,  ready  to  respond  to  a  faithful  use  of  the 
means  at  all  times.  "  The  set  time  "  in  which  to  favor  Zion  is 
always  when  "  her  sons  take  pleasure  in  her  stones,  and  favor 
the  dust  thereof." 

Is  it  not  proper  to  excite  an  enthusiasm  on  the  subject  of 
foreign  or  home  missions?  And  would  not  God  be  pleased  to 
have  us  get  up  a  revival  in  the  interest  of  education  or  of  tem- 
perance? Why,  then,  is  it  not  equally  proper  to  put  forth 
special  efforts  to  promote  the  salvation  of  souls  ? 

But  how  shall  a  revival  be  brought  about?  Not,  as  some 
would  imagine,  by  a  resort  to  eccentricities  and  sensational 
appeals.  It  is  probable  that  some  such  agencies  may  conduce 
to  bring  people  to  listen  to  the  truth  of  God,  but  of  themselves 
they  are  powerless  and  hurtful. 

The  great  necessity  in  promoting  a  revival  is  the  outpouring 
of  the  Spirit  of  God.  Until  the  Spirit  be  poured  out  from  on 
high,  the  most  pungent  truths,  the  most  tender  appeals,  and  the 
most  attractive  manner,  are  in  vain.  Everything  will  remain  as 
hard  and  as  dead  as  a  stone  wall  (and  sinners  are  dead)  until 
infused  by  the  quickening  influence  of  the  Spirit's  power. 

Consequently,  our  first  work  is  prayer.     Earnest,  importu- 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  203 

nate,  believing  prayer,  must  be  made.  The  history  of  the  first 
protracted  meeting  after  the  ascension  of  Christ,  was  doubtless 
designed  as  a  pattern  for  all  succeeding  ages.  There  was  not 
a  sermon  preached  until  after  the  Spirit  had  descended ;  but 
then,  under  the  preaching  of  a  single  sermon,  three  thousand 
souls  were  "  pricked  in  their  hearts."  If  we  preach  at  all  be- 
fore the  direct  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  are  felt  in  the  hearts 
of  the  church,  our  preaching  should  be  directed  to  the  church ; 
we  should  labor  to  have  them  see  wherein  they  have  sinned  and 
departed  fi;om  the  living  God,  and  to  induce  them  to  return  unto 
their  first  love.  In  short,  the  people  must  sanctify  themselves 
before  the  Lord.  Caleb  and  Joshua  said,  "  If  the  Lord  delight 
in  us,  he  will  give  it  us  ;  "  and  if  we  would  go  up  and  possess  a 
town  or  a  city,  we  must  become  so  humble,  and  so  penitent,  and 
so  holy,  that  God  will  delight  in  us. 

"  If  I  regard  iniquity  in  my  heart,  the  Lord  will  not  hear 
me."  It  is  our  sins  which  separate  us  from  God  ;  and  it  is  our 
iniquities  which  hide  his  face  from  our  sight. 

When  the  Holy  Spirit  comes  down  in  power,  it  visits  the 
hearts  of  the  community,  and  they  are  inclined  to  come  in  and 
hear  the  preached  word.  It  was  not  the  preaching  of  Peter 
which  brought  together  the  crowds,  but  the  Holy  Spirit,  which 
came  down  in  answer  to  prayers,  continuously  and  unitedly 
offered  by  the  waiting  disciples. 

The  Holy  Spirit  likewise  indites  the  prayers  and  sermons. 
"When  God's  ministers  are  filled  with  the  Spirit,  there  is  a  kind 
of  inspiration  about  their  sermons,  which  makes  them  "  mighty 
to  the  pulling  down  of  the  strongholds ; "  a  sort  of  inspiration 
in  the  conception  and  expression  of  their  thoughts,  and  in  the 
method  of  their  delivery.  Those  who  have  imagined  that  I 
have  depended  for  effect  on  eccentricities  of  speech,  or  tactics 
of  management,  have  utterly  misapprehended  me,  and  done  me 
great  injustice.  My  reliance  has  been  upon  the  power  of  God's 
truth,  made  effectual  by  his  own  Spirit,  and  the  hearty  cooper- 
ation of  the  church,  as  "  workers  together  with  him." 

I  can  conceive  of  a  difference  between  a  revival  and  a  refor- 


204  HOW  TO   GET   UP   A   REFORMATION,  BY 

mation,  and  desire  only  the  former.  But  in  all  my  efforts  I 
have  labored  assiduously  to  bring  about  a  reformation.  I  have 
sought  to  do  a  work  which  should  abide  —  a  permanent  element 
of  power  and  blessing  after  I  had  passed  on  to  other  places. 
Accordingly,  I  have  earnestly  sought  to  pour  all  of  God's  truth 
upon  the  consciences  of  men  ;  to  bring  up  the  church  to  a  proper 
understanding  of  the  Bible  standard  of  Christian  character  and 
Christian  effort.  I  have  found  many  who  like  the  excitation  of 
a  revival,  but  have  no  relish  for  the  labor  of  a  reform.  Such 
want  a  pastor  or  an  evangelist  who  leaves  them  in  the  undis- 
puted enjoyment  of  their  sinful  indulgences.  They  prefer  sons 
of  consolation  to  sons  of  thunder,  and  want  the  minister  to  say 
soft  things  softly.  They  have  no  idea  of  having  the  gospel 
plough  driven  through  the  church,  breaking  up  the  fallow  ground, 
cutting  all  the  ligaments  that  bind  them  to  the  world  and  to  the 
service  of  Satan.  Their  religion  is  a  white-gloved  religion.  It 
can  attend  sociables,  donation  and  surprise 'parties,  and  enjoy  a 
good  religious  time  generally,  in  which  they  can  outdo  the 
world,  and  keep  close  upon  the  heels  of  the  devil.  They  like 
to  feast,  but  not  to  fast ;  they  are  delighted  with  singing,  but 
have  no  taste  for  prayer. 

But  this  is  not  the  apostolic  sort  of  revival.  The  practices  of 
church  members  who  dance,  and  frolic,  and  are  absorbed  in 
worldliness,  have  been  as  much  in  my  way  of  promoting  a  ref- 
ormation as  drunkenness,  profanity,  or  infidelity ;  yes,  as  all 
put  together.  In  laboring  for  reformation,  it  has  been  my  cus- 
tom to  expose  all  the  sins  of  God's  people.  He  says,  "  Lift  up 
thy  voice  like  a  trumpet ;  cry  aloud ;  spare  not.  Show  unto 
my  people  their  sins,  and  the  house  of  Israel  their  trans- 
gressions." 

If  the  work  drags,  I  preach  on  some  subjects  which  are  appli- 
cable to  both  saints  and  sinners ;  appoint  a  fast,  requiring  all 
who  join  in  it  to  abstain  from  all  business  and  all  food  duriug 
the  twenty-four  hours.  Sometimes  we  have  held  three  or  four 
such  seasons  in  one  meeting.  Thus,  by  prayer  and  fasting,  by 
preaching  and  exhortation,  by  humiliations  and  confessions,  we 


ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  205 

have  sought  the  Lord,  until  he  has  "  come  and  rained  righteous- 
ness upon  us." 

The  church  needs  to  be  stimulated  as  well  as  depleted,  or 
else  they  will  sink  and  become  despondent.  They  must  be  en- 
couraged to  take  God  at  his  word,  and  to  hope  in  his  rnercy,  and 
expect  the  fulfilment  of  all  his  promises  ;  so  that  they  must  be 
taught  to  use  at  once  all  means  to  bring  in  sinners,  and  labor 
and  look  for  their  conversion.  The  sooner  and  the  more  they 
work,  the  sooner  and  the  more  they  will  be  in  sympathy  with 
Christ,  and  be  filled  with  the  Spirit.  That  pastor  who  is  the 
most  successful  in  securing  and  keeping  up  the  cooperation  of 
the  church,  will  be  most  successful  in  producing  and  keeping  up 
a  perpetual  reformation.  This  was  the  secret  of  the  success  of 
John  Wesley. 

When  tffe  church  is  aroused  and  consecrated,  and  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Spirit  realized,  then  pour  on  God's  truth,  hand 
over  hand ;  now  thundering  out  hell  and  damnation,  until  the 
mountain  is  covered  with  fire  and  smoke,  and  the  people  trem- 
ble ;  then  ascend  Calvary's  bloody  summit ;  bid  the  smitten 
people  "  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God^who  taketh  away  the  sin  of 
the  world."  Preach  Christ  crucified  ;  knock  out  every  prop  on 
which  sinners  lean.  Sometimes  the  prop  is  one  thing,  some- 
times it  is  another.  It  may  be  Universalism,  or  Unitarianisin, 
or  morality.  No  matter  what  it  is  ;  let  not  one  remain,  —  and 
see  to  it  that  the  soul  build  on  no  other  foundation  than  that 
which  is  already  laid,  which  is  Christ  Jesus. 

This  is  a  momentous  work,  demanding  the  utmost  exertion 
of  the  laborers  for  God.  It  behooves  them  to  keep  alive  and 
active  the  conviction  of  the  solemn  fact,  that  all  who  are  not 
reached  soon,  will  very  soon  be  beyond  the  reach  of  all  the 
means  of  grace.  It  is  now  or  never.  "  Knowing  the  terrors 
of  the  Lord,  we  persuade  men."  "  When  the  commandment 
came,  sin  revived  and  I  died."  So  said  Paul.  And  Jesus 
asks,  "How  can  ye  escape  the  damnation  of  hell?"  Human 
sinfulness,  helplessness,  and  danger  must  be  plainly  enforced  in 
order  to  give  effect  to  the  arguments  of  the  cross. 


206  HOW   TO   GET   DP  A   REFORMATION,    BY 

Men  in  all  ages  are  liable  to  go  to  extremes  ;  and  though  the 
present  generation  of  ministers  have  made  many  improvements 
on  the  past,  yet  I  think  the  tendency  now  is  to  make  the  gospel 
pleasing  to  the  tastes  of  unconverted  men  ;  and  as  the  result  of 
this  desire  is  to  give  "  none  offence,"  the  doctrines  of  human 
depravity,  of  the  enmity  of  the  carnal  mind  against  God,  the 
necessity  of  the  new  birth,  and  the  certainty  of  eternal  punish- 
ment to  the  finally  impenitent,  are  not  made  as  prominent,  or 
dwelt  upon  as  much  as  formerly.  ^Tndeed,  I  find  some  churches 
•which  do  not  wish  to  hear  anything  about  them.  But  the  truths 
of  the  Bible  are  adapted  to  the  condition  of  man  in  all  ages 
and  circumstances,  and  any  deviation  from  this  standard  is 
dangerous. 

There  are  two  methods  of  carrying  on  a  successful  .ftyival  of 
religion.  One  is,  by  calling  in  the  aid  of  an  evangelist,  and  mak- 
ing a  special  effort  to  enlist  and  arouse  the  entire  community. 

But  when  this  plan  is  not  practicable,  let  the  pastor  of  a 
church,  in  connection  with  his  most  spiritually-minded  brethren, 
seek  in  prayer  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit.  Then  let  them  seek 
out  the  most  seriously  disposed  persons  in  the  congregation  ; 
when  one  person  is  converted  set  him  to  work  to  win  others,  and 
endeavor  to  give  every  member  of  the  church  something  to  do. 
The  more  each  one  works  the  more  he  will  have  a  mind  to  work, 
and  the  more  he  will  find  to  do.  Let  there  be  a  short  lecture 
from  the  pastor,  followed  by-prayer  and  pertinent  remarks  by 
the  brethren  and  converts.  In  this  way  the  whole  leaven  of 
grace  will  continue  to  Vrork  until  the  whole  lump  is  leavened, 
and  an  entire  church  or  community  is  permeated  with  the  power 
of  the  gospel. 

Formalists  and  hypocrites  may  say  what  they  please  against 
excitement,  but  from  the  earliest  days  of  God's  communication 
with  men  there  have  been  seasons  of  religious  refreshing  and 
declension.  There  was  a  declension  before  the  flood,  and  a  re- 
vival under  Abraham ;  a  declension  in  Egypt,  and  a  revival 
under  Moses  ;  a  declension  before  the  days  of  John  the  Baptist, 
and  a  revival  shortly  after  Christ.  And  so  it  has  been  from 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  207 

that  day  to  this,  and  so  it  will  continue  to  be,  so  long  as  man 
is  what  he  is,  the  devil  is  what  he  is,  and  God  does  not 
change. 

Indeed,  the  history  of  the  apostles  is  a  history  of  excitement ; 
deeper,  stronger,  and  more  lasting  than  we  have  ever  had  since. 
The  history  of  the  church  is  the  history  of  strong  and  purifying 
excitements.  .<•«?£  *  • . 

t 


208  SPEEDY   ADMISSIONS    CONSIDERED,  BY 


IV. 

*  *  > 

COMPLAINTS   AGAINST    SPEEDY   ADMISSIONS 
CONSIDERED. 

LET  it  be  distinctly  understood  that  the  word  of  God  and  the 
example  of  the  apostles  are  our  only  guides  in  this  matter. 
No  creeds,  catechisms,  laws,  by-laws,  usages,  or  customs  of 
modern  churches,  ought  ever  to  be  allowed  to  come  into  compe- 
tition with  the  teachings  of  Holy  Writ.  It  is  always  safe  to 
follow  its  directions  and  examples  as  to  the  method  of  promoting 
the  advancement  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  "  To  the  law  and 
the  testimony ;  if  they  speak  not  according  to  this  word,  it  is 
because  there  is  no  light  in  them." 

2.  What  was  the  custom  of  the  apostles  on  this  subject? 
Peter,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  commanded  sinners  to  "  repent 
and  be  baptized;"  "and  they  that  gladly  received  the  word, 
were  baptized ;  and  the  same  day  there  was  added  unto  them 
about  three  thousand  souls."  Now  it  is  evident  to  any  un- 
biased mind,  that  all  who  believed  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  on 
that  occasion,  were  baptized  the  same  day  ;  yes,  before  they  left 
the  spot.  Acts  ii.  38-41.  The  jailer  was  not  only  baptized  on 
the  same  night  in  which  he  was  converted",  but  in  "  the  same 
hour."  Acts  xvi.  33. 

When  Philip  opened  his  mouth  and  preached  unto  the  eunuch 
Jesus,  as  they  were  riding  along  in  the  chariot,  the  eunuch  said, 
"  Here  is  water,  what  doth  hinder  me  to  be  baptized?  "  Philip 
said,  "  If  thou  believest  with  all  thine  heart,  thou  mayest." 
And  on  the  declaration  of  his  faith,  "  they  went  down  into  the 
water,  both  Philip  and  the  eunuch,  and  he  baptized  him."  Acts 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  20D 

viii.  38.  Now  it  is  evident  that  in  this  case  baptism  was  not 
delayed  until  the  eunuch  reached  home,  but  he  was  baptized 
immediately  on  the  declaration  of  his  faith. 

In  the  case  of  Cornelius  and  his  house,  we  read  that  while 
Peter  was  preaching  the  Holy  Spirit  fell  on  those  that  heard, 
and  that  Peter  immediately  commanded  that  they  should  be 
baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Acts  x.  47,  48. 

Likewise  it  appears  when  the  Lord  had  opened  the  eyes  of 
Lydia,  as  she  was  praying  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  that  she 
was  baptized  therein,  before  returning  to  her  home. 

The  case  of  Saul  of  Tarsus  is  the  only  one  recorded  in  the 
New  Testament  of  a  person  whose  baptism  was  delayed  after 
conversion.  He  was  not  baptized  till  three  days  had  elapsed  ; 
but  there  were  reasons  which  make  his  case  evidently  excep- 
tional. 1.  There  was  no  administrator  at  hand  when  he  was 
converted.  2.  Jesus  bade  him  go  into  the  city,  and  await 
further  instructions.  3.  As  soon  as  Ananias  was  informed  of 
the  case,  he  sought  out  Saul,  and  as  soon  as  Saul  was  told  that 
his  next  duty  was  to  be  baptized,  he  instantly  obeyed.  4. 
The  delay  of  three  days  seems  to  have  been  an  occasion  of 
regret  to  Ananias ;  and,  5.  As  it  was,  Saul  did  not  either  eat 
or  drink,  after  his  conversion,  till  he  had  been  baptized. 

It  is  very  evident  that  the  apostles  in  no  instance  demanded 
of  a  candidate  a  probationary  trial,  nor  even  a  metaphysical 
analysis  of  the  workings  of  their  minds  under  conviction,  as 
prerequisites  of  baptism.  They  simply  required  a  sincere 
expression  of  repentance  of  sin  and  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 

But  it  may  be  said  that  the  apostles,  being  inspired  men, 
could  tell  who  were  converted  and  who  were  not.  To  this  I 
answer,  there  is  no  evidence  that  their  inspiration  related  to 
this  subject.  On  the  contrary,  it  seems  that  they  did  not  ground 
the  reception  of  members  on  any  such  supernatural  recognition. 
They  confess  themselves  to  have  been  disappointed  in  some 
cases,  and  allusions  are  frequent  to  those  who  fell  away. 

Again,  it  is  urged  that  there  was  little  danger  of  persons 
confessing  Christ  in  times  of  persecution.  I  ask,  what  reason 


210  SPEEDY   ADMISSIONS    CONSIDERED,   BY 

had  the  three  thousand  to  expect  persecution,  and  what  evidence 
is  there  that  they  recognized  an  apprehension  of  it?  .On  the 
contrary,  it  is  more  probable  that  multitudes,  in  view  of  the 
marvellous  descent  of  the  Spirit,  were  inclined  to  think  that  the 
new  religion  was  about  to  become  immediately  popular. 

If  ever  there  was  a  time  in  which  extra  precautions  should 
be  taken  against  immediate  receptions,  it  was  at  the  Pentecost. 
1.  It  was  a  time  of  great  excitement,  in  which  the  fanatical 
would  be  very  likely  to  show  themselves.  2.  There  was  little 
or  no  time  or  opportunity  for  reflection  ;  so  that  the  impulsive 
could  be  easily  betrayed.  3.  It  was  a  time  of  great  ignorance 
of  the  real  nature  of  Christianity.  Multitudes  were  less  in- 
formed of  the  elementary  principles  of  Christ's  kingdom  than 
are  the  simplest  of  modern  Sunday-school  children.  4.  Many 
of  the  converts  were  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  sojourners  in 
Jerusalem  only  for  a  few  days,  destined  to  go  back  among 
peoples  who  knew  not  Christ,  and  where  they  could  not  enjoy 
the  privileges  of  an  organized  church.  Notwithstanding  all 
these  incentives  to  precaution,  the  apostles  understood  the  com- 
mission to  require  of  them  the  instantaneous  baptism  of  all 
who  professed  their  faith  in  Christ. 

The  caviller  may  say  again,  there  is  no  harm  in  their  wait- 
ing. So  say  Pedobaptists,  when  convicted  of  the  unscriptural- 
ness  of  infant  baptism,  "  There  is  no  harm  in  the  ceremony." 
But  I  think  that  every  deviation  from  the  divinely-prescribed 
method  of  building  up  the  kingdom  of  Christ  is  full  of  harm. 
In  this  particular  case,  the  habit  of  delay  is  injurious  to  the 
piety  of  the  convert,  grieves  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  calling  into 
question  the  genuineness  of  his  work,  begets  a  spirit  of  unbelief 
in  our  prayers,  and  opens  up  a  wide  door  for  innumerable  de- 
partures from  the  word  of  God.  If  in  one  instance  we  may 
depart  from,  and  attempt  to  improve  upon,  the  pattern  given  us, 
we  may  do  so  ad  libitum.  And  yet  there  are  many  Baptists 
(thank  God  their  number  is  diminishing  every  year)  with 
whom  usages  and  customs  are  everything,  and  the  authority  of 
God  nothing.  The  laws  and  by-laws  of  some  such  churches  aro 


ELDER   JACOB   KN.iPP.  211 

all  in  all ;  but  the  laws  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  apostles  are  of 
no  account.  They  seem  to  think  that  the  apostles  were  very 
imprudent,  and  those  who  seek  to  copy  after  them  are  danger- 
ous men. 

And  especially  ought  it  to  be  remarked,  that  this  agitation 
about  receiving  members  invariably  retards  a  revival.  Every 
baptism  imparts  new  courage  to  the  church,  and  becomes  an 
element  of  conviction  to  the  unconverted.  But  when  this  duty 
is  deferred,  all  these  good  influences  are  retarded.  Suppose, 
when  Peter  heard  the  three  thousand  cry  out,  "  What  must  we 
do?"  he  had  said,  "  Don't  get  excited  ;  keep  cool ;  go  home  and 
read  your  Bibles :  "  and  then  suppose  that  the  rest  of  the  disci- 
ples had  set  in  with  their  admonitions,  "  Examine  yourselves  ; 
don't  be  deceived ;  ascertain  whether  you  can  hold  out ;  and, 
above  all,  remember  you  won't  always  feel  as  you  do  now  : " 
suppose  some  such  procedure,  and  I  leave  it  to  the  men  who 
advocate  this  policy  to  compute  how  long  it  would  have  taken 
for  Christianity  to  have  achieved  the  triumphs  which  made  the 
first  Christain  era  so  illustrious. 

3.  Baptism  is  the  act  of  putting  on  Christ.  "  As  many  of 
you  as  have  been  baptized  into  Christ  have  put  on  Christ." 
When  we  have  renounced  the  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil, 
why  defer  putting  on  Christ  ?  Why  not  put  him  on  at  once  ? 
As  did  the  primitive  Christians  in  this  matter,  so  let  us  do.  A 
new-born  soul  is  a  babe,  whose  mother  is  the  church  ;  and  where 
is  the  place  for  the  babe,  but  in  the  warm  and  fostering  bosom 
of  its  mother  ?  What  would  you  think  of  the  policy  of  putting 
the  tender  infant  up  garret  for  a  week,  a  month,  or  six  mouths, 
in  order  to  see  whether  it  would  hold  out?  If  there  is  ever  a 
time  when  the  child  needs  nursing  and  tender  care  it  is  when 
it  is  just  born. 

This  hesitancy  to  receive  newly-born  souls  is  an  evidence  of 
something  wrong  in  the  churches,  disqualifying  them  to  extend 
a  fostering  care  to  the  babes  in  Christ,  and  thus  rendering  them 
unwilling  or  unable  to  bear  the  labor  and  risk  of  receiving  those 
who  are  genuinely  converted,  on  account  of  the  risk  of  taking  in 
the  few  who  may  not  be. 


212  SPEEDY  ADMISSIONS    CONSIDERED,   BY 

la  this  way  converts  are  discouraged  at  the  start,  and  instead 
of  finding  cordial  welcome,  they  find  themselves  to  be  objects  of 
distrust.  The  very  consciousness  of  being  distrusted  depresses 
the  ardor  of  effort,  makes  them  afraid  to  express  their  difficulties, 
turns  them  to  seek  that  sympathy  in  the  world  which  is  refused 
them  in  the  church,  and  furnishes  them  a  relief  from  the  re- 
straints which  they  wt>uld  feel  in  the  church,'  and  an  excuse 
for  yielding  to  temptation.  It  rarely  happens  that  persons 
who  have  been  kept  off  from  the  privileges  and  responsibilities 
of  the  church  relation  for  a  period  of  several  mouths,  or 
even  weeks,  are  ever  brought  into  the  church  at  all ;  partly 
because  the  church  loses  sight  of  them,  and  partly  because  they 
themselves  become  either  indifferent  about  uniting  with  the 
church,  or  fearful  of  a  rebuff  if  they  should  make  the  attempt 
to  do  so. 

4.  It  is  not  uncommon  for  churches  to  ascribe  the  backslid- 
ing of  newly-received  members  to  the  wrong  cause.  They  say, 
"  It  is  because  they  were  taken  into  the  church  too  soon."  I 
say,  it  is  because  they  are  not  taken  care  of  when  they  are  in. 

In  the  first  place,  converts  experience  a  chill  from  coming 
into  contact  with  cold,  formal,  and  worldly  members.  Every 
spirit  begets  its  own  likeness.  Let  me  know  the  character  of 
the  church,  and  I  can  tell  what  prospects  there  are  of  the  converts 
holding  out.  If  the  older  members  are  running  off  to  the  theatre, 
or  the  dance,  or  flirting  about  at  parties,  or  think  more  of  attend- 
ing religious  festivals  than  church  prayer-meetings,  ought  it  to 
be  a  matter  of  surprise  if  the  new  members  become  like  unto 
them? 

I  have  always  observed  that  those  in  the  churches  who  have 
the  least  piety  affect  the  most  care  about  receiving  members. 
They  act  as  if  they  were  hoping  to  atone  for  their  sins  by  their 
extreme  conservatism.  They  will  ask  as  many  questions  of  a 
candidate  as  if  they  were  examining  him  for  ordination.  I 
have  also  noticed  that  those  who  were  the  most  zealous  in  saving 
souls  generally  receive  the  converts  with  greater  cordiality,  and 
are  more  ready  to  take  upon  themselves  the  burden  of  watching 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  213 

over  and  encouraging  them  than  are  those  who  exhaust  their 
zeal  in  trying  to  keep  them  out. 

In  the  next  place,  churches  frequently  kill  off  the  converts  by 
not  giving  them  a  chance  to  work.  In  many  churches  there 
are  no  organized  plans  of  Christian  effort,  and  the  members 
have  no  church  help  to  "  exercise  themselves  unto  godliness." 
The  convei't  is  thrown  upon  his  own  individual  resources.  In 
many  cases,  however  willing  to  work,  in  his  inexperience  he 
does  not  know  what  to  do,  or  how  to  set  about  doing  anything, 
so  that  he  is  timid,  and  hesitates,  lest  he  shall  be  deemed  fro- 
ward.  Besides,  much  time  need  not  elapse  before  he  can  fiud 
out  that  a  few  are  not  indisposed  to  monopolize  the  offices  and 
honors,  while  others  seem  to  find  their  chief  exercise  in  repress- 
ing the  ardor  of  any  who  might  wish  to  do  more  than  them- 
selves. Converts  are  usually  in  a  plastic  state,  and  are  peculiarly 
sensitive  to  first  influences  that  are  exerted  on  them  on  join- 
ing the  church.  Multitudes  receive  a  set  back  then,  from  which 
they  never  recover. 

Very  many  make  much  of  the  kind  of  experience  a  candidate 
may  be  able  to  relate  ;  but  facts  abundantly  prove  that  "  ex- 
periences "  are  uncertain  reliances.  Many  who  told  bright 
experiences  live  inconsistent  lives,  and  many  who  stumbled 
and  bungled  in  their  narration  prove,  by  consistent  conduct, 
that  the  root  of  the  matter  was  in  them. 

Many  are  also  much  opposed  to  the  baptizing  of  children.  I 
know  of  one  little  girl,  converted  in  the  Sunday  school,  whose 
parents  refused  their  consent  to  her  being  baptized  on  account 
of  her  youth,  who  one  day  brought  her  Testament  to  her  pastor, 
and  asked  him  to  mark  out  the  passage  which  tells  how  old  a 
person  must  be  before  he  could  be  baptized.  The  only  answer 
that  can  be  given  to  such  a  question  is  one  which  admits  that  a 
child  who  is  old  enough  to  repent  and  believe  is  not  too  young 
to  be  baptized. 


214  THE  UTILITY   OF   ANXIOUS-SEATS,  BY 


THE  UTILITY  OF  ANXIOUS-SEATS. 

fTVHERE  is  no  intrinsic  virtue  in  an  "  anxious-seat."  There 
JL  is  no  merit  in  taking  it.  There  is  nothing  in  the  thing 
itself  that  can  place  God  under  obligation  to  save.  Nevertheless 
there  are  advantages  in  the  use  of  this  institution. 

1.  It  serves  as  a  test  of  character.     Many  people  think  that 
they  are  not  ashamed  of  Christ,  but  when  called  upon  to  give  a 
public  expression  of  their  feelings,  they  recognize  and  evince  a 
strong  unwillingness  to  expose  themselves  to  such  an  avowal. 
They  are  afraid  of  the  comments  of  the  ungodly ;  and  besides 
this,  they  become  conscious  of  a  resistance  to  the  overtures  of 
the  gospel,  that  springs  from  a  hatred  to  Christ,  an  unwilling- 
ness  to   make  the  surrender,  of  which  they  were   hardly  con- 
scious before.     Thus  many  have  become  amazed  at  the  dis- 
covery of  their  carnal  enmity,  and  have  been  brought  to  realize, 
more  fully  than  ever,  the  necessity  of  their  being  born  again. 

2.  It  is  a  public  committal.     When  once  the  step  is  taken,  it 
is  more  dishonorable  and  more  mortifying  to  go  back  than  it  is 
to  go  forward.     The  more  obstacles  that  can  be  put  in  the  way 
of  receding  the  better.    God  frequently  helps  men  to  a  right  decis- 
ion by  bringing  them  to  a  crisis,  in  which  the  retreat  is  more 
disastrous  than   a  forward  movement.     Thus  was  it  with  the 
children  of  Israel,  as  they  came  to  the  Red  Sea,  with  the  hosts 
of  Pharaoh  behind  them.     Consequently  all  the  barriers  that 
can  be   put  in  the  way  of  the  anxious,  to  prevent  their  going 
back,  should  be  piled  up  behind  them ;  and  all  inducements  to 
strengthen  their  resolutions,  and  to  make  them  strive  to  enter 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  215 

in  at  the  strait  gate,  should  be  employed,  for  "  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  taken  by  violence,  and  the  violent  take  it  by  force." 

3.  It  is  a  convenient  way  of  making  a  public  acknowledg- 
ment of  our.  need  of  Christ.     The  language  of  the  Savior  is 
emphatic :  "  Whoso  shall  confess  me  before  men,  him  will  I 
confess  before  my  Father  and  his  holy  angels."     "  He  that  shall 
deny  me  before  men,  him  will  I  deny  beftre  my  Father  and  his 
holy  angels."     The  blind  man  not  only  prayed  publicly  to  Christ 
for  the  opening  of  his  eyes,  but  was  called  upon  to  answer  this 
question  :  "  What  wilt  thou  that  I  shall  do  unto  thee?  "     Why 
did  the  Savior  ask  that  question  ?     Clearly,  he  wished  him  to 
ask  again,  in  order  to  make  him  emphasize  his  wants  before 
all  the  people,  that  all  might  know  that  Christ  had  opened  his 
eyes. 

In  like  manner  all  sinners  must  come  out  and  confess  their 
need  of  the  healing  virtue  there  is  in  Christ.  The  woman  who 
secretly  touched  the  garment  of  Christ  was  brought  out  before 
all  the  people,  and  rebuked  for  her  hesitancy  to  appeal  to  the 
Savior  publicly. 

4.  The  effect  of  such  an  example  is  an  encouragement  to 
other  convicted  souls.     A  man  who  thinks  he  is  willing  to  do 
something  for  Christ,  can  do  no  less  than  this  simple  service. 
He  may  not  have  the  tongue  of  eloquence  to  exhort,  he  may  not 
have  abundance  of  wealth  to  pay  missionaries,  but  can  quietly 
and  humbly  take  a  position  before  a  congregation,  which  evinces 
his  sincerity  and  earnestness.     Thus  one  can  be  the  means  of 
bringing  others  to  a  right  decision  by  the  force  of  example. 

5.  The  effect  of  taking  such  a  step  is  also  an  encouragement 
to  the  minister  and  the  church.     By  this  means  they  know  that 
their  labors  are  not  in  vain.     They  see  that  their  prayers  are 
being  answered. 

It  may  be  asked,  however,  "  What  authority  have  we  in  the 
teachings  or  examples  of  the  Bible  for  anxious-seats  ? " 
Answer  :  I  have  shown  that  the  principle  of  publicly  avowing  our 
desire  for  salvation  is  recognized  by  Christ.  -I  am  not  tenacious 
about  the  way  of  carrying  out  the  principle,  whether  an  inquirer 


216  THE   UTILITY  OP  ANXIOUS-SEATS,  BY 

rise  on  his  feet  and  speak,  or  whether  he  take  a  seat  assigned 
for  those  in  his  condition.  I  prefer  the  latter  course  on  several 
accounts.  Some  persons  are  timid  (especially  ladies),  and 
shrink  from  speaking  for  the  first  time  before  a  large  and 
pi-omiscuous  assembly.  They  can  quietly  walk  forward  to  au 
assigned  seat  much  more  readily.  Again,  the  interest  of  the 
meeting  is  ascertained  and  concentrated.  Scores  may  rise  from 
their  seats  and  sit  down  again,  and  be  unnoticed,  and  the  church 
fail  to  appreciate  the  extent  of  the  feeling.  Besides,  the  anxious 
become  more  accessible  to  the  acquaintance,  sympathy,  and 
instruction  of  the  minister  and  brethren.  In  many  cases  the 
mere  act  of  coming  forward  has  brought  no  relief;  but  once 
forward,  the  anxious  soul  comes  in  contact  with  some  one  who 
takes  an  immediate  interest  in  his  case,  prays  for  him,  converses 
with  him,  follows  him  up,  and  thus  he  is  saved. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  while  the  means  of  grace  are 
divinely  appointed,  such  as  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  prayer, 
singing,  baptism,  and  the  Lord's  supper,  the  measures  in  detail 
which  are  to  be  adopted  in  applying  these  agencies  are  left  to 
be  determined  by  the  varying  circumstances  and  exigencies  of 
the  time,  and  place,  and  people. 

Hence,  while  the  act  of  preaching  is  an  imperative  duty,  it  is 
a  matter  of  discretion  or  circumstance  whether  we  preach  in  a 
dedicated  building,  an  ordinary  dwelling,  a  barn,  or  the  open 
field.  We  may  preach  throughout  one  hour  or  two  hours,  fast 
or  slow,  loud  or  low. 

It  is  the  duty  of  Christians  to  pray,  but  the  style  or  method 
of  our  praying  need  not  be  the  same  in  all  cases.  We  must 
baptize,  but  it  is  left  free  to  decide,  according  to  circumstances, 
whether  we  shall  baptize  in  a  river,  a  lake,  the  sea,  or  a  fount. 
Only  in  all  cases  let  it  be  remembered  that  we  are  to  "  let  all 
things  be  done  decently  and  in  order." 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  217 


VI. 

HOW  TO  INSTRUCT  INQUIRERS. 

ON  this  subject  the  Bible  is  our  guide.  Peter  said  to  those 
who  asked  "  What  must  we  do?  "  "  Repent  and  be  bap- 
tized." When  the  jailer  asked  a  similar  question,  Paul  an- 
swered, "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  Jesus  said, 
"  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  are  weary  and  heavy-laden,  and  I 
will  give  you  rest."  These  directions  are  substantially  alike. 
No  man  repents  without  believing.  No  man  believes  in  Christ 
without  repenting,  and  no  man  comes  to  Christ  without  doing 
both  ;  and  baptism  is  the  symbol  and  profession  of  this  moral 
experience. 

Thirty-five  or  forty  years  ago,  Baptists,  Presbyterians,  and 
Congregationalists  would  tell  inquirers  to  go  home,  read  their 
Bibles,  reflect  upon  their  condition,  look  within,  dig  deep,  and 
be  not  deceived.  They  enforced  a  process  of  introspection,  rather 
than  the  idea  of  looking  out  from  themselves  unto  Jesus.  The 
Methodists  would  tell  them  to  put  their  names  on  the  "  class  " 
paper,  and  become  probationers  for  six  months.  In  many  cases 
they  would  find  a  kind  of  relief  in  the  notion  that  they  had  a 
period  of  six  months  in  which  to  become  Christians  ;  but  before 
the  allotted  period  had  expired  their  interest  would  die  out,  and 
they  would  find  themselves  where  they  started,  with  this 
difference,  that  they  were  more  hardened,  and  less  likely  to 
make  another  effort. 

In  contradistinction  from  all  such  usages  of  delay  and 
hesitancy,  the  apostles  called  upon  men  to  make  an  immediate 
surrender  of  their  hearts  to  God.  They  required  the  exercise 
16 


218  HOW    TO   INSTRUCT  INQUIRERS,   BY 

of  repentance  and  faith  on  the  spot.  They  made  no  provision 
for  delays,  and  clearly  implied  that  this  very  hesitancy  was  a 
resistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  an  act  of  hostility  to  God. 
Any  other  instruction  seems  like  tolerating  impenitence,  unbelief, 
and  a  rejection  of  Christ. 

Is  it  not  amazing  that  ministers  of  the  gospel  should  betray 
such  ignorance  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  and  be  so  regardless 
of  inspired  directions  and  apostolic  examples?  Yet  despite 
such  bad  counsels,  many  made  out  to  stumble  into  the  kingdom  ; 
while  others  would  guess  their  way  along  in  darkness  for  years, 
and  after  a  while  would  get  some  glimmers  of  light.  I  am 
amazed  that  while  the  other  denominations  named  are  coming 
nearer  to  the  Bible  standard,  that  our  Methodist  friends  should 
hold  on  to  their  old  tradition  of  putting  all  of  the  inquirers  on  a 
probation  of  six  months.  I  think  it  is  the  worst  thing  in  their 
whole  system,  and  have  been  hoping  and  praying  that  they 
would  correct  the  evil. 

There  are  numerous  influences  which  operate  on  inquirers  to 
embarrass  their  efforts  after  salvation.  Some  are  holding  on  to 
their  companions,  and  are  unwilling  to  give  them  up  for  Christ. 
Others  are  depending  on  something  which  they  have  done,  or 
intend  to  do,  instead  of  depending  on  Christ  alone.  Some  are 
unwilling  to  abandon  an  unlawful  business,  or  to  give  up  their 
unlawful  gain.  Others  again  have  contracted  bad  habits,  such 
as  the  use  of  tobacco,  wine,  rum,  whiskey,  or  dancing.  Every 
person  is  willing  to  give  up  something,  but  not  the  particular 
idol  which  they  worship.  They  make  reservations,  and  say, 
"  Pardon,  O  Lord,  thy  servant  in  this  one  thing."  But  Christ 
says,  "  Whosoever  doth  not  forsake  all  that  he  hath,  cannot  be 
my  disciple." 

If  persons,  who  have  been  converted,  are  in  a  backslidden 
state,  now  hoping  and  now  doubting,  it  is  safe  to  bring  them  to 
the  same  test  that  you  do  an  inquirer.  The  great  necessity  is 
to  bring  every  soul  to  trust  in  Christ  solely  and  implicitly,  and 
to  serve  him  unreservedly,  and  leave  all  consequences  with  Him, 
who,  with  Christ,  freely  giveth  us  all  things.  It  is  ours  to 
serve  God  ;  it  is  his  to  save. 


ELDER  JACOB   KN'APP.  219 

We  are  all  directed  to  pray.  The  apostle  told  Siinou  to 
"  pray  God,  if  perhaps  the  thought  of  thy  heart  may  be  for- 
given thee."  God  "  will  have  all  men  to  pray  everywhere." 
The  mercy-seat  should  be  the  sinner's  first  resort.  O,  how 
strange  it  is  that  the  soul  should  be  so  loath  to  come  to  Jesus, 
the  sinner's  friend,  and  his  only  "  helper  in  time  of  trouble  "  — 
to  him  who  has  done  for  him  more  than  any  other  being,  and 
stands  ready  to  save  ! 

No  two  persons  under  conviction  are  exercised  precisely 
alike.  There  are  diversities  of  operations,  but  the  same  God 
"  worketh  all  in  all."  This  passage  refers  not  only  to  the 
diversity  of  gifts  dispensed  among  his  people,  but  it  refers  also 
to  the  diversity  of  operations  in  converting  sinners. 

There  is  a  difference  in  the  times  when  the  Spirit  begins  to 
work  on  the  hearts  of  men.  Some  are  moved  upon  when  very 
young.  I  have  no  doubt  some  are  born  again  at  the  age  of  three 
or  four  years.  The  sovereignty  of  God  cannot  be  called  in 
question.  The  Spirit  goeth  "  where  it  listeth."  But  these 
early  conversions  are  the  result,  to  some  extent,  of  early  instruc- 
tions, and  in  answer  to  the  earnest  prayers  of  parents.  Some 
such  persons  often  doubt  the  genuineness  of  their  conversions, 
because  they  have  not  experienced  such  decided  convictions  as 
others  speak  of  who  have  lived  longer  in  sin.  Perhaps,  how- 
ever, like  Samuel,  they  have  been  called  before  they  were  old 
enough  to  recognize  the  voice  of  God.  They  have  no  re- 
membrance of  the  time  when  they  did  not  love  God.  They 
must  be  instructed  accordingly ;  and  it  is  a  great  mistake  to 
attempt  to  judge  of  their  experience  by  some  other  person's 
standard. 

There  is  a  difference  to  be  observed  in  the  kind  of  truth  to  be 
presented  to  different  persons  with  a  view  to  awakening  them. 
Some  can  be  moved  by  the  constrainings  of  the  love  of  Christ ; 
others  may  be  aroused  by  the  terrors  of  the  law.  It  is  common 
for  most  persons  to  place  a  great  estimate  on  the  value  of  that 
particular  class  of  truths  that  interested  them,  and  to  think  the 
method  which  secured  their  attention  preferable  to  any  other. 


220  HOW  TO   INSTRUCT  INQUIRERS,   BY 

There  is  a  difference  in  the  length  of  time  in  which  the 
Spirit  strives  with  men.  Some  persons  he  follows  after  for 
years ;  others  may  never  have  more  than  one  distinct  call.  If 
that  is  rejected,  they  are  forever  lost. 

These  differences  of  operations  are  owing,  in  part,  to  the  way 
in  which  the  Spirit  is  treated.  If  it  is  rejected  deliberately,  he 
may  leave  the  soul  at  once.  But  in  other  cases  men  sin 
ignorantly  :  seeking  the  truth,  but  unconsciously  submitting  to 
some  unrecognized  influences  which  hinder  the  Spirit's  opera- 
tions ;  and  God  forbears.  All  these  cases  are  to  be  treated 
differently. 

There  is  also  a  difference  in  the  degree  or  depth  of  conviction 
in  different  persons.  Some  need  only  to  know  the  will  of  God 
concerning  them,  and  they  yield  at  once.  Others  are  more 
stubborn  in  the  natural  disposition,  and  will  not  yield  unless 
God  puts  the  screws  to  them  and  almost  kills  them.  Our  in- 
structions to  the  anxious  must  make  "  a  difference  "  according 
to  the  different  conditions  of  the  person  with  whom  the  Spirit  is 
striving. 

There  is  a  difference  in  the  manner  in  which  relief  comes  to 
persons.  Some  find  it  gradually,  hardly  knowing  how  or  when. 
Others  find  the  relief  at  once,  and  never  forget  the  time  or 
place  when  the  burden  rolls  off  from  their  minds.  The  con- 
version may  be  as  genuine  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other. 
Two  men  may  be  going  up  a  long,  steep  hill,  each  with  a  bag 
of  sand  on  his  back.  In  one  of  these  bags  there  is  a  hole,  and 
the  sand  gradually  falls  out,  and  the  man  hardly  perceives  the 
lessening  of  the  load,  but  soon  it  is  all  gone  ;  the  other  carries 
his  load,  and  it  seems  to  grow  heavier  and  heavier.  All  at 
once  the  straps  break,  and  the  bag  falls  to  the  ground.  He 
knows  the  moment  when  the  burden  fell.  But  in  the  one  case 
the  relief  is  as  actual  and  real  as  in  the  other.  Each  has  got 
rid  of  his  burden. 

So  also  there  is  a  difference  as  to  the  way  in  which  light 
comes  into  the  soul.  Some  see  but  a  very  few  rays  at  first. 
Conversion  is  to  them  like  the  dawning  of  day.  They  never 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  221 

see  any  great  light ;  can  hardly  tell  whether  any  change  has 
come  over  them  or  not ;  and  because  they  have  not  felt,  as  some 
say  they  have,  they  are  tempted  to  doubt  the  reality  of  their 
hopes.  Still  they  love  God,  and  love  his  people,  and  love  his 
service.  Others  experience  a  divine  illumination.  All  at  once 
light  is  poured  into  their  souls.  The  change  is  so  great  that 
they  never  forget  the  time.  These  persons  need  to  be  taught 
that  the  genuineness  of  their  conversion  does  not  depend  on  the 
degree  of  light  they  have  enjoyed,  but  on  the  state  of  their  affec- 
tions ;  whether  they  love  God  and  keep  his  commandments ; 
whether  they  are  in  sympathy  with  Christ,  his  service,  and  his 
people.  There  was  a  difference  between  the  conversion  of  the 
eunuch  and  that  of  Paul.  But  Paul  never  bases  the  reality  of 
his  conversion  on  the  mere  miraculous  circumstances  which 
attended  it. 

But  I  am  constrained  to  say  that  I  have  never  depended  as 
much  as  some  have  on  instructions  to  the  anxious.  Rather  I 
have  insisted  on  immediate  decision  —  on  instantaneous  repent- 
ance, and  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus.  In  the  anxious-room  I 
depend  more  on  prayer,  on  prevailing  supplication  with  God, 
than  on  all  the  instructions  which  can  be  given.  Everything  is 
dark  to  the  sinner  until  enlightened  by  the  Spirit ;  and  no 
coaxing,  no  teaching,  no  driving  will  compel  or  induce  the 
devil  to  leave  his  palace  in  the  human  soul,  until  the  stronger 
than  the  strong  man  armed  comes  upon  him  and  binds  him. 
Then  the  work  is  done,  and  done  effectually.  Hence  I  get  all 
on  their  knees,  and  set  them  to  crying  to  God  (both  saints  and 
sinners),  till  he  sends  down  salvation.  I  have  known  fifty  souls 
to  be  converted  in  one  season  of  prayer,  that  is,  before  we  have 
risen  from  our  knees. 


222         ADVICE  TO  YOUNG  CONVERTS,  BY 


VII. 

ADVICE  TO  YOUNG  CONVERTS. 

THE  first  duty  required  of  a  new-born  soul  is  to  be  baptized 
into  Christ.  They  are  dead  to  sin,  dead  to  the  world,  and 
dead  to  the  penalty  of  the  law.  These  great  facts  in  their  spirit- 
ual  condition  they  are  enjoined  to  symbolize,  by  being  "  buried 
with  Christ  in  baptism." 

They  also  believe  in  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Christ, 
and  are  required  to  express  that  faith  in  baptism.  When  they 
go  down  into  the  liquid  grave,  they  say  they  believe  that  Christ 
*'  died  for  their  sins,  and  was  buried  ;  "  and  when  they  come  up 
out  of  the  water,  they  set  forth  their  belief  that  he  rose  from 
the  dead  ;  that  he  liveth,  liveth  forever,  and  that  all  his  believers 
will  be  raised  from  the  grave,  and  exalted  to  a  share  in  the 
glory  of  Christ  forever  and  ever. 

The  New  Testament  makes  no  provision  of  a  moment's  delay 
between  the  exercise  of  faith  and  the  act  of  baptism. 

2.  Be  careful  to  maintain  secret  prayer.  Jesus  says,  "  Enter 
thou  into  thy  closet,  and  when  thou  hast  shut  to  thy  door,  pray 
to  thy  Father,  which  is  in  secret,  and  thy  Father,  which  seeth 
in  secret,  shall  reward  thee  openly."  It  is  blessed,  indeed,  to 
retire  from  all  the  world,  to  be  shut  up  with  God,  when  no 
human  eye  sees,  and  no  human  ear  hears.-  The  thought  that 
God  will  listen  to  our  cries,  will  sympathize  with  our  trials, 
and  assist  and  deliver  us  in  all  our  perplexities,  is  itself  full  of 
comfort. 

In  the  matter  of  prayer,  great  care  should  be  taken  to  estab- 
lish regular  seasons  of  prayer.  Let  nothing  interrupt  your 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  223 

engagements  with  God.  If  you  only  visit  your  closet  when  it 
is  convenient,  you  will  be  tempted  to  neglect  the  privilege  of 
prayer,  from  time  to  time,  until  it  is  dispensed  with  altogether. 
The  man  who  does  not  take  pains  to  wind  up  his  watch  at 
stated  seasons,  will  seldom  have  correct  time. 

3.  If  it  is  in  your  power  to  do  so,  maintain  family  prayer. 
Joshua  said,    u  As  for  me  and  my  house,  we  will   serve   the 
Lord." 

If  the  husband  and  father  are  absent,  the  wife  and  mother 
should  lead  in  the  service.  It  is  desirable,  in  cases  where  the 
husband  is  not  a  Christian,  that  the  pious  wife  maintain  the 
appointment.  - 

4.  Study  the  word  of  God.     "  Search  the  Scriptures,"  said 
Jesus.      And  the  Bereans  were  complimented  as  being  more 
noble  than  those  of  Thessalonica,  in  that  "they  searched  the 
Scriptures  daily."     The  words  which  Jesus  speaks  are  "  spirit, 
aud  they  are  life." 

Do  not  read  the  Scriptures  in  the  spirit  of  controversy,  but  of 
candid  aud  prayerful  self-application. 

Read  the  word  of  God  frequently.  It  will  bear  reading  over 
and  over  again.  Let  not  a  day  pass  without  reading  a  portion 
of  this  precious  message  of  God  to  your  souls. 

The  perusal  of  this  sacred  book  will  improve  the  intellect  and 
purify  the  heart.  A  person  who  has  a  good  knowledge  of  the 
Scriptures  has  a  good  education.  It  is  said  that  many  of  the 
children  of  the  early  Christians  could  repeat  the  entire  Bible, 
from  the  beginning  to  the  end.  The  Bible  is  the  chart  to  direct 
us  to  heaven  ;  a  lamp  to  light  us  through  this  dark  world  to  the 
better  land. 

5.  Make  the  service   of  God  your  business  for  life.     Let 
everything  else  bend  to  that.      "  Seek    first  the  kingdom  of 
God,  and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you."     Do  all 
things  "  to  the  glory  of  God."     Engage  in  nothing  on  which 
you  cannot  ask  the  blessing  of  God.     Make  all  other  claims 
secondary  and  subservient  to  religious  duties.     Thus  you  will 
fill  your  places  in  the  church,  in  the  prayer-meeting,  and  bear 


224  ADVICE  TO   YOUNG   CONVERTS,  BY 

your  share  in  the  support  of  the  ministry  and  the  spread  of  the 
gospel  at  home  and  abroad. 

Never  shrink  from  the  performance  of  duty  in  social  wor- 
ship. Be  ready  to  speak,  to  pray,  and  to  engage  in  every  good 
word  and  work.  The  Savior  has  given  us  the  test  and  the 
standard  :  "  If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  him- 
self, and  take  up  his  cross,  and  follow  me." 

In  this  connection,  I  may  add,  that  it  is  of  the  first  im- 
portance to  aim  at  a  symmetrical  development  of  character. 
Some  men  will  talk  in  meeting,  but  will  give  little  or  nothing 
to  support  the  gospel ;  others  will  give  freely  as  the  Lord  has 
prospered  them,  but  will  neither  speak  nor  pray  in  public. 
Every  grace  and  every  talent  must  be  cultivated,  that  we  may 
grow  up  unto  "  the  perfect  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  fulness 
of  Christ."  When  only  some  graces  and  gifts  are  cultivated  and 
others  are  neglected,  the  character  grows  out  of  shape,  and  be- 
comes a  deformity.  Sometimes  we  meet  with  a  man  who  prays 
and  talks  like  a  saint,  and  is  as  penurious  as  a  miser  ;  another 
man  deals  out  his  money  freely  for  Christian  purposes,  but  never 
has  a  word  to  say  for  Jesus,  nor  a  prayer  to  offer  for  the  con- 
version of  a  "  world  lying  in  wickedness."  Some  people  tell  us 
that  they  have  no  gift  to  pray  or  speak  in  the  prayer  and  con- 
ference meeting,  but  you  will  generally  find  them  ready  to  take 
part  in  the  business  meeting,  especially  if  there  is  quarrelling 
going  on  ;  on  such  occasions  they  can  speak  with  the  vehemence 
of  a  Demosthenes  and  the  fluency  of  a  Cicero. 

6.  "  Exercise  yourselves  unto  godliness."     Without  exercise 
you  will  experience  the  evils  of  spiritual  dyspepsia.     A  Christian 
cannot  safely  allow  a  single  day  to  pass  without  seeking  to  do 
something   specially  with  a  view  to  doing  good  to  others,  or 
overcoming   sin   in  himself.      As   every  part   of  the  body   is 
strengthened  by  use  and  exercise,  or  weakened  for  the  want  of 
them,  in  like  manner  our  spiritual  natures  grow  in  grace  by 
reason  of  the  active  devotion  of  our  powers  to  the  service  of 
Christ. 

7.  Guard  yourselves   against  the  liabilities   of   your  own 


ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  225 

weaknesses.  Satan  knows  what  they  are,  and  will  tempt  you 
accordingly. 

If  in  former  times  you  have  been  accustomed  to  the  use  of 
strong  drink,  your  safety  requires  that  you  "  touch  not,  taste 
not."  "  Look  not  thou  upon  the  wine  when  it  is  red,  when  it 
giveth  his  color  in  the  cup." 

Do  as  did  a  man  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  who  had  cultivated 
a  thirst  for  strong  drink.  At  the  time  of  his  conversion  he  was 
owing  a  bill  at  a  rum-shop,  but  he  did  not  dare  to  trust  himself 
across  the  threshold  ;  so  he  put  the  amount  of  his  indebtedness 
in  an  envelope,  and  fastening  it  to  the  end  of  a  pole,  stuck  the 
pole  into  the  window,  and  ran  off  as  if  all  the  devils  in  hell 
were  after  him. 

Have  any  of  you  been  addicted  to  the  use  of  tobacco  ?  Wage 
a  war  of  extermination  with  this  wretched  practice.  Tobacco 
was  made  to  kill  insects,  not  human  beings.  There  is  none 
of  the  brute  creation  that  will  eat  it,  except  the  long-haired 
goat,  that  climbs  the  side  of  the  mountains  of  the  East. 

Tobacco  softens  the  brain,  weakens  the  intellect,  enfeebles 
the  body,  vitiates  the  appetite,  and  hurries  its  victims  to  the 
grave. 

The  use  of  tobacco  is  a  filthy  habit.  A  person  who  is  a 
great  smoker  can  be  scented  wherever  he  goes.  He  taints  the 
very  atmosphere  with  the  poisonous  odor  that  exhales  from 
his  breath  and  pervades  his  clothes  ;  and  he  must  either  be 
accommodated  with  a  spittoon  wherever  he  goes,  or  be  running 
to  the  door,  or  window,  or  fire-hearth,  to  keep  himself  from 
the  disgusting  alternative  of  spitting  on  the  carpets  of  his 
friends. 

Some  of  you,  perhaps,  have  been  novel  readers.  If  so,  I  beg 
you  to  do  as  did  the  heathen  who.  were  converted  in  the  days  of 
the  apostles.  They  brought  their  books  together  and  burned 
them  before  all  the  people,  and  counted  the  price  of  them,  and 
it  amounted  to  fifty  thousand  pieces  of  silver.  "When  I  closed 
my  meeting  in  the  Baptist  Tabernacle,  New  York  city,  I  called 
upoia  the  congregation  to  bring  together  all  their  novels  and 


228         ADVICE  TO  YOUNG  CONVERTS,  BY 

other  pernicious  books.  A  great  heap  of  books  was  collected, 
which  for  once  were  made  useful  in  furnishing  material  for  a 
brilliant  bonfire. 

I  warn  you  against  all  light  reading,  for  the  following 
reasons : — 

a.  It  involves  a  waste  of  precious  time. 

b.  It  weakens  the  mental  powers.     A  person  can  read  novels 
from  morning  till  night,  without  exercising  his  powers  of  think- 
ing.    It  promotes  intellectual  indolence,  and  disqualifies  a  per- 
son for  close  application  and  original  thinking. 

c.  It  gives  false  views  of  life.     Its  scenes  are  unreal.      They 
rarely  find  their  counterpart  in  the  actual  world.     The  imagina- 
tion becomes  disordered,  and  the  mind  loses  its  relish  for  the 
matter-of-fact  duties  and  realities  of  life. 

It  is  rarely  the  case  that  a  woman  who  has  given  herself  up 
to  the  practice  of  reading  novels  makes  a  good  housekeeper. 
The  temptation  to  read  "  the  last  novel "  is  stronger  than  her 
sense  of  obligation  to  her  husband  and  children.  The  novel 
must  be  devoured,  even  though  her  husband  goes  without  his 
meals  and  her  children  are  compelled  to  wear  unmended  gar- 
ments. 

d.  I  need  hardly  enter  into  an  argument  to  prove  that  the 
practice  of  reading  novels  is  a  serious  hinderance  to  growth  in 
grace.     It  begets  a  distaste  for  the  duties  of  prayer,  reading  the 
Bible,  and  seeking  out  opportunities  of  doing  good  to  the  many 
objects  of  Christian  sympathy  which  abound  in  the  walks  of 
real  life.     A  person  who  has  tears  to  shed  over  scenes  of  fancied 
sorrow,  rarely  has  any  to  spare  when  called  to  look  on  the 
scenes  of  actual  woe. 

e.  Remember  that  Christianity  is  a  radical   principle.      A 
Bible  Christian  cannot  be  a  conservative.     Christianity  is  pro- 
gressive in  its  nature.     It  aims  to  overthrow  the  kingdom  of  the 
devil,  and  to  oppose  and  remove  everything  which  is  opposed 
to  God  and  holiness. 

The  world   and   the  devil  are  evermore  in  favor  of  com- 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  227 

promise.  This  truth  relates  alike  to  religion  and  politics.  But 
"what  fellowship  hath  light  with  darkness?  or  Christ  with 
Belial?"  In  regard  to  all  subjects,  take  your  position  on  God's 
eternal  truth,  and  stand  there,  though  earth  and  hell  oppose. 
Christ  resisted  unto  blood,  striving  against  sin. 

Let  your  influence  always  be  decided  and  open  against 
slavery,  intemperance,  and  oppression,  and  in  favor  of  all 
reforms  which  tend  to  elevate  the  condition  of  the  race ;  and 
be  willing  to  suffer,  and,  if  need  be,  die  for  your  conscientious 
convictions.  "  He  that  seeketh  his  life,  shall  lose  it,  and  he 
that  loseth  his  life,  for  my  sake  and  the  gospel's,  shall  find  it." 


228  ACTIVE  BENEVOLENCE,  BY 


VIII. 

ACTIVE  BENEVOLENCE. 

BENEVOLENCE  is  in  the  nature  of  all  holy  beings.  Love 
to  God  and  love  to  man  are  the  legitimate  expressions  of 
this  principle.  Man,  in  his  primeval  estate,  was  possessed  of  a 
nature  that  did  love  God  supremely,  and  could  have  loved  his 
neighbor  as  himself.  But  when  he  fell,  the  governing  principle  of 
his  soul  was  changed  from  this  holy  impulse  to  that  of  a  supreme 
love  of  self.  In  conversion,  however,  this  original  outgoing  of 
his  nature  reasserts  itself,  and  in  the  supremacy  of  this  restored 
principle  he  becomes  a  new  creature. 

All  the  Christian  graces  spring  from  love.  And  as  this  love 
towards  sinful  and  suffering  creatures  takes  the  form  of  an  ear- 
nest and  practical  sympathy^  Christians  find  themselves  having 
the  same  yearning  mind  after  their  fellows  which  was  also  in 
Christ  Jesus. 

Consequently  we  all  lay  all  of  our  earthly  possessions  on 
God's  altar,  and  consecrate  our  time,  our  talents,  our  money, 
and,  if  need  be,  our  lives,  to  the  work  of  doing  good  — of  glori- 
fying God  in  laboring  for  the  salvation  of  the  world.  Self, 
which  is  the  great  law  of  our  fallen  natures,  is  now  ignored ; 
we  are  restored  to  our  original  condition  of  communion  with 
God,  and  fellowship  with  angels,  and  sympathy  with  men. 

We  propose  to  show  the  duty  of  exercising  the  grace  of 
Benevolence. 

1.   The  duty  of  benevolence  is  taught  by  the  voice  of  nature. 

The  sun  does  not  shine  for  itself,  but  for  others.  The  clouds 
do  not  pour  down  their  refreshing  showers  for  themselves,  but 
for  others.  The  earth  does  not  yield  its  great  variety  of  delicious 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  229 

and  golden  fruits  fjr  itself,  but  for  others.  God  did  not  fill  the 
earth  with  beautiful  and  fragrant  flowers,  and  wrap  the  earth  in 
its  green  carpet,  for  himself,  but  for  man  ;  nor  did  he  make  the 
various  orders  of  the  brute  creation  subordinate  to  man's  au- 
thority, and  subservient  to  him,  for  his  own  gratification  or 
necessity,  but  for  man's. 

The  selfish  man  has  no  sympathy  with  God  in  these  regards  ; 
nor  is  he  in  sympathy  with  angels  and  good  men.  All  nature 
is  breathing  forth  the  spirit  of  benevolence.  We  see  it  with  our 
eyes  ;  we  hear  it  with  our  ears  ;  we  inhale  it  in  every  breath  ; 
we  partake  of  it  with  every  morsel  of  food  we  eat ;  and  if  we 
do  not  reciprocate  it,  but  remain  selfish,  cold,  dead,  and  senseless 
to  all  the  obligations  these  exhibitions  of  his  goodness  impose, 
we  are  worse  than  blanks,  or  drones ;  we  are  fit  for  nothing 
but  to  be  cast  out  and  trodden  under  foot. 

2.  God  enjoined  the  duty  of  active  benevolence  upon  his 
covenant  people,  the  Jews,  and  without  it  they  could  not  be 
numbered  among  his  people.  Every  man  must  pay  one  tenth 
of  all  for  the  support  of  the  ministry,  and  one  tenth  for  their 
sacrifices,  or  burnt-offerings,  which  made  twenty  per  cent. ;  then 
they  had  to  build  and  rebuild  their  temple,  observe  all  of  their 
feasts  and  fasts,  attend  all  of  their  protracted  meetings,  which 
were  frequent  and  sometimes  long  continued ;  in  addition  to  all 
of  these,  once  in  seven  years  debtors  were  all  released,  servants 
all  set  free,  and  their  lands  were  allowed  to  rest.  Moreover, 
they  were  required,  when  gathering  their  harvest,  to  let  fall 
some  hands  full  for  the  poor,  and  to  leave  more  or  less  of  all 
kinds  of  fruits  for  those  who  had  none. 

Their  zeal  for  the  Lord  of  Hosts  was  so  great,  that  on  some 
occasions  they  mortgaged  their  lands  and  all  they  had  to  main- 
tain their  worship  ;  yet  this  people  rose  rapidly  in  wealth,  intel- 
ligence, refinement,  and  power  among  the  nations  of  the  earth  ; 
and  when  the  honor  of  their  divine  Master  required  it,  they 
brought  forth  their  tithes  and  offerings  so  freely  and  so  abun- 
dantly that  they  had  to  be  restrained. 


230  ACTIVE   BENEVOLENCE,  BY 

3.  We  have  the  example  of  holy  angels  to  enforce  the  duty 
of  active  benevolence. 

All  of  their  visits  to  the  children  of  men,  for  six  thousand 
years,  have  been  visits  of  mercy  and  benevolence.  During  all 
these  thousands  of  years  no  angel  ever  came  down  to  set  up  a 
kingdom  for  himself,  or  to  gather  up  silver,  gold,  pearls,  or 
precious  stones,  with  which  to  enrich  himself,  but  always  for 
the  sake  of  doing  something  for  others ;  now  confirming  the 
wavering,  now  strengthening  the  feeble-minded,  and  ever  attest- 
ing their  profound  interest  in  the  several  phases  of  Christ's 
ministry  for  the  redemption  of  man. 

4.  The  holy  apostles  taught  and  carried  out  this  principle  of 
benevolence. 

They  consecrated  themselves,  their  all,  to  the  work  of  Chris- 
tian benevolence,  the  good  of  mankind,  and  the  glory  of  God. 
They  neither  faltered  nor  turned  aside  from  this  work.  They 
lost  sight  of  all  self-interests.  They  had  but  one  object  in  living. 
"  They  counted  not  their  lives  dear  unto  them." 

Paul  said,  "  I  am  ready  not  only  to  be  bound,  but  also  to  die 
at  Jerusalem,  for  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  Again,  "  I  am 
determined  to  know  nothing  among  you,  save  Jesus  Christ  and 
him  crucified."  Their  love  to  God  and  man  was  so  great,  their 
benevolence  so  unabating,  that  it  led  them  to  endure  imprison- 
ment oft,  and  stripes  above  measure.  They  were  beaten  with 
rods,  stoned,  in  perils  oft,  perils  by  the  heathen,  in  perils  in  the 
city,  ia  perils  among  robbers,  in  perils  among  false  brethren,  in 
weariness  and  painfulness,  in  hunger  and  thirst,  in  fastings 
often,  in  cold  and  nakedness,  homeless  and  houseless ;  yet, 
prompted  by  pure  benevolence,  they  went  on,  until  they  sealed 
their  testimony  for  the  truth  with  their  lives.  O  God,  how 
ashamed  I  feel  when  I  contrast  my  benevolence  with  theirs ! 
If  the  apostles  had  pursued  the  course  which  some  persons  in 
modern  times  do,  it  would  have  overthrown  the  whole  kingdom  of 
Christ.  But  none  could  doubt  their  sincerity  ;  none  could  ques- 
tion their  motives  ;  all  must  have  been  convinced  that  they  were 
prompted  by  a  disinterested  spirit.  Their  benevolence  was  not 


ELDER   JACOB    KNAPP.  231 

an  abstract  principle,  confined  to  creeds  and  books,  but  an  active, 
controlling,  propelling  power,  which  made  them  omnipotent 
for  good. 

5.  But  the  crowning  example  of  benevolence  is  furnished  in 
the  mission  of  the  Sou  of  God.     His  errand  to  this  world  was 
purely  an  errand  of  love  for  us.     He  came  not  to  be  ministered 
unto,  but  to  minister.     "  God  commendeth  his  love  toward  us, 
in  that  while  we  were  yet  sinners  Christ  died  for  us."     Paul 
calls  the  coming  of  Christ  to  save  us,  God's  "  unspeakable  gift," 
and  presents  his  spirit  as  the  model  and  inspiration  of  true 
Christian  benevolence.     "  Ye  know  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  who,  though  he  was  rich,  for  our  sakes  became  poor, 
that  we  through  his  poverty  might  be  rich."     We  are  exhorted 
to  "  let  the  same  mind  be  in  us  which  was  also  in  Christ  Jesus." 
and  are   solemnly  reminded,  that   "  if  any  man  have  not  the 
spirit  of  Christ,  he  is  none  of  his." 

6.  The  whole  of  God's  word  breathes  and  enforces  the  duty  of 
benevolence.     The  book  itself  is  a  benevolent  gift  from  God  to 
man.     The  ends  which  it  designs  to  accomplish  are  all  benevo- 
lence, and  the  duty  of  benevolence  is  taught  on  almost  every 
page.     Let  us  listen  to  a  few  sentences. 

"  Whatsoever  we  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye 
even  the  same  unto  them." 

"  Freely  ye  have  received,  freely  give." 

"  He  that  hath  two  coats,  let  him  impart  to  him  that  hath 
none  ;  and  he  that  hath  meat,  let  him  do  likewise." 

"  Sell  that  ye  have  and  give  alms.  Provide  yourselves  bags 
which  wax  not  old,  a  treasure  in  the  heavens  that  faileth  not." 

u  And  I  say  unto  you,  Make  unto  yourselves  friends  of  the 
mammon  of  unrighteousness,  that  when  ye  fail  they  may  re- 
ceive you  into  everlasting  habitations." 

"  Therefore,  as  ye  abound  in  everything,  see  that  ye  abound 
in  this  grace  [benevolence]  also." 

"  As  we  have  therefore  opportunity,  let  us  do  good  unto  all 
men  ;  especially  unto  them  who  are  of  the  household  of  faith." 

"  Charge  them  that  are  rich  in  this  world  that  they  be  not 


232  ACTIVE  BENEVOLENCE,   BY 

high-minded,  nor  trust  in  uncertain- riches,  but  in  the  living  God, 
who  giveth  us  all  things  richly  to  enjoy ;  that  they  do  good ; 
that  they  be  rich  in  good  works,  ready  to  distribute,  willing  to 
communicate  ;  that  they  may  lay  hold  on  eternal  life." 

7.  Benevolence  does  not  improverish  us.      God  delights  to 
make  happy  the  poor  and  the  needy,  and  to  have  his  gospel 
preached  and  his  word  extended  to  every  creature  ;  and  wher- 
ever he  sees  an  agent  who  will  dispense  to  the  poor,  and  give 
liberally  to  spread  the  gospel,  he  delights  to  furnish  him  with 
the  means.     He  can  bless  all  around  him.    Hence  unto  him  that 
hath  shall  be  given,  and  he  shall  have  more  abundantly. 

"  Cast  thy  bread  upon  the  waters,  and  thou  shalt  find  it  after 
many  days." 

"  He  is  ever  merciful,  and  lendeth,  and  his  seed  shall  be 
blessed." 

"  A  good  man  showeth  favor  and  lendeth ;  surely  he  shall 
not  be  moved  forever.  The  righteous  shall  be  held  in  everlast- 
ing remembranc'e." 

"  There  is  that  scattereth  and  yet  increaseth,  and  there  is  that 
withholdeth  more  than  is  meet,  but  it  tendeth  to  poverty." 

"  The  liberal  soul  shall  be  made  fat,"  a.nd  "  he  that  watereth 
shall  himself  be  watered."  "  Honor  the  Lord  with  thy  sub- 
stance and  with  the  first  fruits  of  thy  increase  ;  so  shall  thy  barns 
be  filled  with  plenty,  and  thy  presses  burst  out  with  .new  wine." 

"  There  is  that  maketh  rich,  .yet  hath  nothing ;  and  there  is 
that  maketh  himself  poor,  and  yet  hath  great  riches." 

"  But  the  liberal  deviseth  "liberal  things,  and  by  liberal  things 
shall  he  stand." 

"  Give  and  it  shall  be  given  unto  you,  good  measure,  pressed 
down,  shaken  together,  and  running  over." 

Now,  if  we  believe  these  sentiments,  expressed  by  men  in- 
spired by  the  Holy  Spirit,  we  must  admit  that  benevolence  is  not 
the  road  to  poverty,  but  the  way  to  prosperity. 

8.  Benevolence  makes  both  the  giver  and  the  receiver  happy, 
and  the  former  more  than  the  latter. 

"  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive." 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  233 

"  Blessed  [or  happy]  are  the  merciful,  for  they  shall  obtain 
mercy." 

"  The  blessing  of  him  that  was  ready  to  perish  came  upon  me, 
and  I  caused  the  widow's  heart  to  sing  for  joy." 

The  more  closely  we  conform  to  the  laws  of  God's  moral 
government,  the  more  effectually  we  secure  our  own  happiness, 
and  every  deviation  from  those  laws  must  produce  misery. 

Man  is  so  constituted,  that  he  must  practise  benevolence  to 
his  fellow-man,  or  not  only  suffer  in  his  moral  character,  but 
jeopardize  his  immortal  soul. 

The  falling  under  the  controlling  power  of  self-love  and  its 
constant  gratification,  with  no  ventilation  by  benevolence,  is  like 
the  constant  increase  of  steam  without  ventilation,  until  the 
frightful  explosion  takes  place.  In  these  times  of  great  worldly 
prosperity,  we  do  well  to  keep  our  eye  upon  the  safety-valve, 
and  to  ventilate  by  benevolence,  or  we  may  burst  our  boilers, 
and  go  to  perdition. 

9.  Benevolence  is  pleasing  to  God.  The  apostle  says,  "  I 
am  full,  having  received  of  Epaphroditus  the  things  which  were 
sent  from  you,  an  odor  of  sweet  smell,  a  sacrifice  acceptable, 
well-pleasing  to  God" 

"  God  loveth  a  cheerful  giver." 

"  To  do  good  and  to  communicate  forget  not,  for  with  such 
sacrifices  God  is  well  pleased." 

If,  then,  benevolence  is  well  pleasing  to  God,  the  want  of  it 
must  be  very  offensive  to  him.  The  selfish,  penurious,  hide- 
bound soul  must  be  an  offence  to  him,  and  a  disgusting  object 
to  all  benevolent,  holy  beings,  in  the  universe.  The  good  things 
of  this  life  are  designed  for  three  distinct  objects:  1.  To  feed 
and  clothe  the  body ;  2.  To  educate  the  intellect ;  and,  3.  To 
cultivate  the  heart,  or  to  educate  men  for  heaven.  When  they 
are  used  for  either  of  these  objects  they  are  a  blessing ;  but 
when  turned  into  another  channel  they  become  a  cuvse.  If 
hoarded  up,  they  feed  and  strengthen  the  root  of  all  evil.  If 
laid  out  for  display,  for  vain-glory,  for  sinful  and  foolish  amuse- 
ments, they  strengthen  all  of  the  vile  passions  of  our  fallen 
17 


234  ACTIVE  BENEVOLENCE,  BY 

nature,   which  must    be   crucified,   or  they   will  destroy  our 
souls. 

"  If  ye  live  after  the  fleshy  ye  shall  die." 

These  passions  are  the  thorns  which  choke  the  word  and  ren- 
der it  unfruitful.  These  riches  and  carnal  indulgences  rear 
the  dam,  and  raise  the  pond  which  drowns  men  in  destructiou  and 
perdition.  What,  then,  can  we  do  with  the  surplus  avails  of  our 
industry  better  than  to  exercise  the  principle  of  benevolence, 
and  give,  it  full  scope  in  pleasing  God,  making  our  fellow-men 
happy,  and  producing  a  God-like  peace  and  bliss  within  our  own 
souls? 

But  the  great  anxiety  of  many  is  to  lay  up  for  their  children. 
They  seem  to  think  that,  though  Jesus  ha,s  said,  "  Lay  not  up 
on  earth  treasures  for  yourselves,"  yet  they  may  lay  up  treasures 
on  earth  for  their  children. 

It  is,  undoubtedly,  the  duty  of  all  parents  to  see  that  their 
children  are  comfortably  fed  and  clad ;  that  all  of  their  cor- 
poral, intellectual,  and  moral  necessities  are  met ;  that  they  are 
trained  for  the  highest  possible  degree  of  usefulness  and  happi- 
ness :  but  to  put  them  in  a  condition  of  ease  and  affluence,  where 
neither  their  brain,  their  bones,  nor  their  muscles  will  be  taxed, 
is  to  do  them  the  greatest  possible  injury.  Piety  never  outlives, 
the  third  generation  in  the  midst  of  abounding  wealth,  and  sel- 
dom the  second.  We  who  are  parents  can  see  that  it  is  not 
easy  to  induce  our  children,  even  in  the  absence  of  the  means  of 
cultivating  the  carnal  propensities  of  their  fallen  nature,  to  start 
in  and  persevere  in  the  way  to  heaven ;  and  how  much  more 
difficult  when  they  abound  in  all  the  means  to  gratify  their 
ambition,  their  pride,  their  vanity,  their  love  of  pleasure  !  The 
stream  against  which  we  all  have  to  struggle  to  reach  heaven 
is  mighty ;  but,  in  their  case,  the  influences  by  which  they  are 
surrounded  set  in  like  a  flood,  and  become  almost  irresistible. 
The  Savior,  fully  understanding  all  these  things,  exclaimed, 
"  How  hardly  shall  they  that  have  riches  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  God  ! "  "  It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  the  eye  of 
a  needle  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  235 

God  '  Borne  along  by  this  current,  they  may  at  times  look 
heavenward,  and  think  of  their  parents,  who  have  gone  before 
them,  and  make  some  feeble  efforts  to  reach  the  promised  land. 
But,  alas  !  the  current  is  too  strong  for  them  to  resist,  the  temp- 
tations too  great  for  them  to  overcome,  and  they  go  down,  one 
after  another,  until  they  are  all  destroyed. 

Many  parents  may  look  down  from  heaven,  and  see  the;obstar 
cles  which  they  have  placed  in  the  way  of  the  salvation  of  their 
dear  children,  by  not  conforming  to  the  divine  rule  in  carrying 
out  the  principle  of  active  benevolence.  They  now  understand, 
as  they  never  did  before,  "  They  that  will  be  rich  fall  into  temp- 
tation and  a  snare,  and  into  many  foolish  and  hurtful  lusts, 
which  drown  men  in  destruction  and  perdition." 

Even  if  we  had  no  regard  to  the  future,  it  is  a  bad  policy  to 
lay  up  riches  for  our  children.  It  is  well  known  that  the  most 
of  our  successful  business  men  began  with  nothing.  Our  most 
able  preachers  of  the  gospel,  our  lawyers,  physicians,  and  states- 
men, are  self-made  men,  who  are  indebted  to  the  heavy  tax  upon 
their  own  efforts  for  success.  Viewing  the  subject  in  this  light, 
it  is  not  strange  that  John  said,  "  Love  not  the  world,  neither 
the  things  which  are  in  the  world  ; "  "  If  any  man  love  the  world, 
the  love  of  the  Father  is  not  in  him." 

Nor  is  it  strange  that  Jesus  pronounced  the  man  a  fool  "  who 
layeth  up  treasures  on  earth,  and  is  not  rich  towards  God." 
Well  might  the  wise  man  say,  "  Give  me  neither  poverty  nor 
riches."  The  man  who  is  not  a  benevolent  man  cannot  be  au 
honest  man ;  because  all  we  have  and  are  belong  to  God,  and 
not  to  ourselves. 

God  commands  us  to  "  do  good  unto  all  men  as  we  have  oppor- 
tunity," to  "  love  our  neighbor  as  ourselves,"  to  "  deal  our 
bread  to  the  hungry,"  to  "  go  into  all  the  world,  and  preach 
the  gospel  unto  every  creature."  Can  we  shut  up  the  bowels 
of  our  compassion  against  the  needy,  hoard  up  God's  money, 
withhold  the  gospel  from  the  perishing,  and  be  honest?  It  is 
impossible.  We  defraud  the  needy ;  we  embezzle  our  Lord's 
goods,  pervert  the  end  of  our  being,  and  shut  up  the  kingdom 


236  ACTIVE  BENEVOLENCE,  BY 

of  God  against  men.  In  fact  the  faithful  discharge  of  our  duty, 
in  the  best  use  of  everything  committed  to  our  care,  can  hardly 
be  regarded  as  benevolence  ;  it  is  but  discharging  a  duty  which 
we  owe  to  God  and  man.  When  we  have  done  all,  we  have 
done  no  more  than  that  which  it  was  our  duty  to  do,  and  are 
unprofitable  servants. 

What  will  Jesus  say,  in  the  day  of  reckoning,  to  him  who 
has  wasted  or  withheld  his  Lord's  money?  Will  he  not  be 
more  likely  to  say,  "  Bind  him  hand  and  foot,  and  cast  him  into 
outer  darkness,"  than  to  say,  "Well  done,  good  and  faithful  ser- 
vant "  ?  May  God  enable  us  so  to  live,  and  so  to  occupy,  as  that 
when  he  comes  to  call  us  to  an  account,  he  may  say  to  us,  one 
and  all,  "  Ye  have  done  what  ye  could."  "  Enter  ye  into  the 
joy  of  your  Lord." 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  237 


IX. 

RESTRICTED   AND   MIXED   COMMUNION. 

[It  is  believed  that  much  of  the  unkind  feeling,  among  all  denomi- 
nations, and  uncharitable  remarks  about  each  other,  proceed  from  a  mis- 
conception of  each  other's  sentiments ;  and  there  is  no  one  thing  more 
generally  censured  than  restricted  communion,  as  practised  by  the 
Baptist  denomination,  and  that  because  it  is  BO  greatly  misapprehended 
or  so  little  understood.  The  design,  then,  of  this  little  Tract,  is  not 
only  to  direct  all  candid  inquirers  after  truth  to  the  apostolic  practice, 
but  also  to  rectify  mistakes,  to  remove  prejudice,  and  to  promote  Chris- 
tian union.] 

BY  mixed  communion,  I  mean  the  custom  of  inviting  mem- 
bers of  all  denominations  to  the  communion  table  ;  and  by 
restricted   communion,  I    mean  confining  the  invitation  to  the 
members  of  the  same  denomination. 

MIXED  COMMUNION. 

1.  It  has  no  tendency  to  increase  brotherly  love.  The  truth 
of  this  statement  is  obvious,  from  the  well-known  fact,  that 
notwithstanding  Pedobaptist  churches  have,  to  some  extent, 
practised  mixed  communion  ever  since  they  have  existed,  and 
Baptist  churches  have  never  done  it,  yet  there  is  no  more  union, 
no  more  brotherly  love,  between  any  two  Pedobaptist  churches 
than  there  is  between  the  Baptist  churches  and  any  one  of  the 
Pedobaptist  churches ;  and  I  think  all  observing  men,  who 
have  travelled  and  mingled  to  some  considerable  extent  with 
Christians  of  all  denominations,  will  bear  me  out  in  saying, 
that  there  is  more  unanimity  of  feeling,  more  concert  of  action, 


2£8  RESTRICTED   AND  MIXED   COMMUNION,   BY 

between  Baptists  and  Presbyterians,  than  there  is  between 
Methodists  and  Presbyterians ;  or  between  Baptists  and  Meth- 
odists, than  there  is  between  Presbyterians  and  Methodists. 
Hence  there  can  be  nothing  in  partaking  of  the  bread  and  wine 
by  members  of  different  and  distinct  bodies  which  tends  to  in- 
crease Christian  affection  or  Christian  fellowship. 

2.  It  has  no  tendency  to  bring  the  different  denominations 
together. 

The  ground  of  separation  lies  farther  back  —  it  is  found  in 
an  honest  (to  speak  with  all  charity)  difference  in  sentiment,  in 
different  views  of  church  building ;  and  reason  teaches  there 
can  be  nothing  in  an  occasional  interchange  of  communion 
among  some  of  the  floating  members  of  these  different  bodies 
which  tends  to  do  away  their  difference  in  sentiment,  or  to  bring 
them  all  into  one  body.  I  would  ask,  Has  it  ever  done  it  in  one 
single  instance  since  these  bodies  have  existed  as  such?  I 
challenge  the  world  to  produce  one  —  nor  is  there  a  prospect 
that  it  ever  will,  for  it  has  already  been  shown  that  there  is  no 
more  union  between  Pedobaptist  churches,  which  have  practised 
mixed  communion  ever  since  they  have  existed  as  distinct 
bodies,  than  there  is  between  Baptist  and  Pedobaptist  churches. 

3.  Mixed  communion,  like  the  fifth  wheel  in  a  carriage,  is 
uncalled  for.     Each  church  or  denomination  have  their  own 
regulations,  and  all  may  commune  at  home  as  often  as  they 
think  proper  ;  and  if  they  are  located,  in  the  providence  of  God, 
where  there  is  no  church  of  their  own  denomination,  and  there 
is  one  of  another,  if  they  wish  to  commune  with  it,  why  not  first 
become  a  member  of  it,  and  then  walk  with  it,  and  act  in  keep- 
ing with  their  profession  ?     And  if  there  is  a  reason  why  they 
cannot  in  conscience  become  a  member  of  such  a  church,  the 
same  reason  must  be  in  the  way  of  their  communing  with  it. 
It  is  but  seldom  that  even  the  greatest  sticklers  for  mixed  com- 
munion ever  commune  with  any  other  denomination.      Scarcely 
a  leading,  stable,  prominent  member  of  an  open   communion 
church   can   be   found   who   ever   communes  out  of  his  own 
denomination.     Ask  a  man,  How  long  have  you  been  a  member 


ELDER    JACOB    KNAPP. 

of  an  open  communion  church  ?  Twenty  years.  How  many 
times  did  you  ever  commune  with  any  other  denomination? 
Why,  I  do  not  Jcnotv  as  I  ever  did.  Well,  how  great  a 
privilege  can  that  be  which  you  never  wish  to  enjoy  ? 

4.  Mixed  communion  compels  a  church  to  commune  with  its 
excommunicated  members.  It  is  not  an  unfrequent  occurrence 
for  persons  excluded  from  one  denomination  to  become  members 
of  another  ;  and  if  members  in  good  standing  in  any  Christian 
churches  are  invited  to  sit  at  the  table,  then  these  excommuni- 
cated members  may  come  back  without  any  reparation,  and 
take  their  seat  at  the  table  of  the  church  from  which  they  have 
but  just  been  expelled.  Should  it  be  said  that  they  are  an- 
swerable for  such  conduct,  and  not  the  church  ?  I  would  ask 
if  it  is  not  an  awkward  position  for  a  church  to  place  themselves 
in,  to  put  all  power  out  of  their  own  hands  to  exclude  a  man 
from  their  communion?  A  wicked,  subtle,  designing  man  may 
bid  defiance  to  the  church,  the  ruling  elders,  the  presbytery, 
and  the  synod,  or  all  combined,  to  prevent  his  claiming  and 
occupying  a  seat  at  their  communion  table.  The  principle  of 
mixed  communion,  then,  annihilates  the  authority  of  the  church, 
and  gives  Satan  an  opportunity  of  trampling  it,  with  all  of  its 
officers,  under  foot.  An  occurrence  of  this  kind  is  now  fresh 
in  my  mind.  It  took  place  in  the  town  of  Henderson,  Jeffer- 
son County,  N.  Y.  A  devoted  and  conscientious  deacon  of  a 
Congregational  church  commenced  a  ,  labor  with  a  member  of 
the  same  church  for  unchristian-like  conduct,  but  could  obtain 
no  satisfaction.  He  then  took  one  or  two  brethren  with  him, 
spread  out  all  the  circumstances  before  them  ;  but  he  still  justi- 
fied himself,  and  abused  his  best  friends,  who  were  laboring  for 
his  good.  The  church  was  at  length  compelled  to  exclude  him. 
He  then  went  to  a  neighboring  Methodist  church,  shed  a  few 
crocodile  tears,  and  told  them  he  had  been  persecuted  because 
he  had  honestly  changed  his  sentiments,  and  he  was  unanimously 
received.  The  next  communion  season  which  this  Congrega- 
tional church  enjoyed  (or  would  have  enjoyed,  but  for  mixed 
communion) ,  he  comes  forward,  and  with  great  care  takes  his 


240  RESTRICTED   AND  MIXED   COMMUNION,   BY 

seat  at  the  table  by  the  side  of  the  deacon  who  'took  up  the 
labor  with  him,  for  the  express  purpose  of  aggravating  his 
feelings.  The  deacon  says  to  a  member  of  a  Baptist  church 
present  (with  whom  he  was  very  intimate),  Brother  Cole,  what 
shall  I  do  ?  I  do  not  feel  as  though  I  could  commune  with  that 
man.  Brother  Cole  answered,  I  pity  you,  deacon,  from  the 
bottom  of  my  heart,  but  I  cannot  relieve  you  ;  this  is  the  effect 
of  your  wrong  views  of  communion.  The  church  was  thrown 
into  such  a  state  of  perturbation  as  to  disqualify  them  to  receive 
so  holy  an  ordinance  with  pleasure  or  profit. 

5.  Mixed  communion  compels  us  to  commune  with  those  who 
are  guilty  of  crimes  for  which  we  should  feel  ourselves  bound  to 
exclude  our  own  members.     For  instance,  suppose  a  Baptist 
church  practised  mixed  communion,  and  one  of  its  members 
should  be  guilty  of  attending  balls,  or  a  dancing-school,  and  the 
church  should  pursue  a  gospel  course  of  labor,  and  could  not 
reclaim  her ;  she  says  she  will  go  where  she  pleases,  justifies 
herself  and  condemns  them ;  they  would  now  feel  themselves 
solemnly  bound  to  exclude  her  from  the  church,  and  no  more 
admit  her  to  the  table  of  the  Lord.     But  suppose,  upon  their 
invitation  to  all  in  good  standing  in  other  churches,  a  member 
of  an  Episcopal  church,  who  had  repeatedly  attended  balls  and 
dancing-schools   with   this   excluded   member   of   the   Baptist 
church,  should  take  her  seat  at  the  table,  the  church  would  be 
compelled  to  commune  with  her,  though  guilty  of  the  same 
crime  for  which  they  had  just  expelled  one  of  their  own  mem- 
bers ;    the  church  has  no  power  over  her  to  call  her  to  an 
account.      She  says,  I  belong  to  another  body ;    my  church 
tolerates  me  in  choosing  my  own  amusements,  and  pursuing 
them  at  my  pleasure.      In  view  of  all  these  difficulties  con- 
nected with  mixed  communion,  I  ask  the  candid  and  unbiased 
reader  if  it  would  not  be  best,  all  things  considered,  for  each 
denomination  to  commune  by  itself,  even  if  we  were  not  bound 
by  Bible  rule  and  apostolic  examples. 

6.  If  the  communion  is  extended  out  of  the  denomination,  it 
is  more  difficult  to  find  a  stopping-place  than  to  stop  at  the 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  241 

boundary  line  of  the  denomination.  There  is  almost  an  endless 
variety  of  Christian  denominations  in  the  world,  and  all  embrace 
more  or  less  truth  in  their  creed,  and  the  most  of  them  may 
have  some  true  Christians  among  them.  Doubtless  there  are 
some  true  Christians  in  the  Papal  church,  for  God  says,  Come 
out  of  her,  my  people ;  and  they  could  not  come  out,  if  not 
there.  Some  true  Christians  may  be  found  among  the  Arians 
(called  Christians)  ;  but  to  open  the  door  to  all  these  denomina- 
tions, would  be  no  better  than  to  open  it  to  all  the  world  ;  and 
to  open  it  to  a  part,  and  not  to  all,  is  to  exclude  some  whom 
Christ  loves,  and  that  upon  more  uncharitable  grounds  than 
those  taken  by  the  Baptist  denomination,  because  the  Baptists 
make  a  distinction  between  church-fellowship  and  Christian- 
fellowship  ;  and  others  unchristianize  all  whom  they  exclude 
from  the  table. 

RESTRICTED  COMMUNION. 

It  may  be  seen  from  the  apostolic  example  that  no  person, 
however  pious,  has  a  right  to  participate  of  the  Lord's  supper 
until  baptized.  Baptism  is  everywhere  required  immediately 
after  repentance  or  faith  in  Christ,  and  there  is  not  a  single 
instance  recorded  in  the  word  of  God  where  the  communion 
was  administered  before  baptism.  See  Acts  ii.  38 :  "  Then 
Peter  said  unto  them,  Repent,  and  be  baptized  every  one  of  you." 
41st  verse  :  "  Then  they  that  gladly  received  his  word  were  bap- 
tized ;  and  the  same  day  there  were  added  unto  them  about  three 
thousand  souls."  Here  we  see  the  order  of  the  Christian  church 
at  its  establishment;  they,  1.  repented;  2.  they  were  baptized, 
and  after  that  they  were  admitted  to  the  communion  ;  see  the 
46th  verse.  The  same  order  is  marked  out  in  1  John  v.  8 : 
"  There  are  three  that  bear  witness  in  earth,  the  Spirit,  and  the 
water,  and  the  blood."  Here  it  may  be  seen  the  Spirit  (which 
indicates  the  new  birth)  comes  first ;  the  water  (which  is 
baptism)  comes  second  ;  the  blood  (which  is  the  communion) 
comes  third ;  and  we  are  charged,  in  1  Cor.  xi.  2,  by  the 
inspired  apostle,  to  keep  the  ordinances  as  they  delivered  them 


242  EESTRICTED   AND  MIXED   COMMUNION,   BY 

to  us.  And  who  dare  reverse  this  order?  And  to  show  still 
further  that  the  apostles  uniformly  and  invariably  required  all 
first  to  repent,  and  then  to  be  baptized  before  they  were  ad- 
mitted to  the  Lord's  -table,  look  at  Acts  viii.  12  :  "  But  when 
they  believed  Philip,  preaching  the  things  concerning  the  kingdom 
of  God,  and  the  name  of  Jesus  Clmst,  they  were  baptized,  both 
men  and  women."  13th  verse  :  "  Then  Simon  himself  believed 
also :  and  when  he  was  baptized  he  continued  with  Philip." 
It  is  equally  clear  that  the  eunuch  did  not  commune  until  after 
being  baptized.  See  Acts  viii.  35,  36,  37.  The  jailer  and 
his  house  likewise  were  baptized  the  same  hour  of  the  night  in 
which  they  believed.  Note  Acts  xvi.  31, 32, 33  :  "And  they  said, 
Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved  and 
thy  house  ;  and  they  spake  unto  him  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and 
unto  all  that  were  in  his  house,  and  he  took  them  the  same  hour 
of  the  night  and  washed  their  stripes,  and  was  baptized,  he  and 
all  his  straightway."  I  also  direct  the  candid  inquirers  after 
truth,  to  Acts  x.  47  and  48  :  "  Can  any  man  forbid  water,  that 
these  should  not  be  baptized,  who  have  received  the  Holy -Ghost 
as  well  as  we?  And  he  commanded  them  to  be  baptized  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord." 

All,  therefore,  who  take  the  Bible  for  their  guide,  follow  the 
apostolic  example,  and  keep  the  ordinances  as  they  were 
delivered  unto  them,  must  insist  upon  every  one's  being  baptized 
before  he  is  invited  to  the  Lord's  table. 

Now  it  may  be  seen  that  all  who  believe  sprinkling,  pouring, 
or  plunging,  is  baptism,  can  commune,  without  violating  con- 
science, with  all  Christian  denominations,  though,  as  has  been 
shown,  there  is  nothing  gained  by  the  practice,  but  much  lost. 
And  it  is  equally  clear  that  those  who  believe  sprinkling  or 
pouring  is  not  baptism  ;  that  none  are  baptized  but  such  as  have 
been  immersed  on  the  profession  of  their  faith  ;  cannot  commune 
with  any  but  those  who  have  thus  been  baptized,  without  vio- 
lating their  conscience  ;  yea,  more,  without  a  palpable  violation 
of  Bible  rule,  and  the  subversion  of  the  apostolic  example. 
Eyery  candid  and  intelligent  person  then  must  see,  that  the 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  243 

Baptist  denomination  act  consistently  with  themselves :  that  is, 
if  their  views  of  baptism  are  correct,  their  action  in  relation  to 
communion  is  right ;  and  the  moment  they  invite  those  to  the 
communion  table  who  have  not  been  immersed,  they  are 
chargeable  either  with  dishonesty  or  insincerity  —  dishonesty,  in 
not  acting  in  keeping  with  their  sentiments ;  or  insincerity,  in 
what  they  profess  to'believe.* 

That  there  is  no  gospel  baptism  short  of  the  immersion  of  a 
believer  in  Christ,  is  quite  certain  from  the  following  facts  :  — 

1.  The  meaning  of  the  word.       The  word  baptize  is  a  Greek 

*  See  the  candid  testimony  of  a  Presbyterian  minister,  taken  from  the 
American  Presbyterian :  — 

"  Open  communion  is  an  absurdity,  when  it  means  communion  with 
the  unbaptized.  I  would  not,  for  a  moment,  consider  a  proposal  to  admit 
an  unbaptized  person  to  the  communion ;  and  can  I  ask  a  Baptist  so  to 
stultify  himself  and  ignore  his  own  doctrine  as  to  invite  me  to  commune 
with  him  while  he  believes  I  am  unbaptized?  I  want  no  sham  union 
and  no  sham  unity ;  and  if  I  held  the  Baptist  notion  about  immersion,  I 
would  no  more  receive  a  Presbyterian  to  the  communion  than  I  would 
now  receive  a  Quaker. 

"  Let  us  have  unity,  indeed,  but  not  at  the  expense  of  principle;  and 
let  us  not  ask  the  Baptist  to  ignore  or  be  inconsistent  with  his  own 
doctrine.  Let  us  not,  either,  make  an  outcry  at  his  "  close  communion," 
which  is  but  faithfulness  to  principle,  until  we  are  prepared  to  be  '  open 
communists '  ourselves ;  from  which  stupidity  may  we  be  forever  pre- 
served. Let  us  war  not  with  his  close  communion,  but  with  his  doctrine 
that  immersion  is  baptism. 

"It  has  been  quite  the  fashion  of  late  years  for  commentators,  who 
were  ambitious  to  be  thought  candid  and  liberal,  to  concede  to  the 
Baptists  that  baptism  is  immersion.  The  volumes  thus  far  issued  of 
Langc's  Commentary  assume  this,  or  assert  it  wherever  the  subject  is 
presented.  Dean  Stanley,  in  his  charming  books,  does  the-  same ;  and 
so  with  others ;  and  these  men  continue  to  practice  both  sprinkling  and 
infant  baptism.  Such  inconsistencies  I  am  utterly  unable  to  compre- 
hend. If  I  believed  what  they  teach  I  would  be  under  the  water  before 
a  week  should  pass  by.  My  faith  in  such  men  is  shaken  —  men  who  do 
not  follow  their  beliefs. 

"No,  let  us  have  no  unity  —  and  strive  to  have  none  —  that  cannot 
be  in  consistency  with  our  doctrine.  How  can  two  walk  together  unless 
they  are  agreed  ?  Let  the  unity  stop  where  the  agreement  ends." 


244  RESTRICTED   AND   MIXED    COMMUNION,  BY 

word  ;  it  cannot  mean  everything  —  to  dip,  pour,  and  sprinkle  : 
the  Greek  word  rantize,  means  to  sprinkle,  and  baptize,  to  dip. 
This  word  is  translated  dip  in  the  German  tongue,  and  in  some 
instances  in  our  version,  where  it  does  not  refer  to  the  ordinance 
of  baptism.  "  He  to  whom  I  shall  give  the  sop,  when  I  dip  it ;  " 
the  word  rendered  dip  he're,  is  baptize.  "  He  whose  vesture  is 
dipped  in  blood."  "  That  he  may  dip  the  tip  of  his  finger  in 
water."  The  word  rendered  dip  in  all  of  these  cases  is  baptize. 
That  the  word  baptize,  or  bapto,  its  root,  cannot  fairly  and 
honestly  be  translated  so  as  to  express  anything  short  of 
immersion,  is  admitted  by  the  most  profound  linguists  in 
Germany ;  by  all  learned  authors,  both  ancient  and  modern  ; 
by  the  Edinburgh  Encyclopedia ;  and  by  the  Greek  church, 
who  understand  their  own  language,  and  never  call  sprinkling 
baptism,  or  who  never  call  baptizing  rantizing,  or  rantiziug 
baptizing.  What  action,  then,  can  be  more  plainly  expressed, 
more  clearly  defined,  than  Christian  baptism,  if  the  word  were 
translated?  The  following  passages  would  read  thus  :  "  Repent 
and  be  immersed."  "  Go  teach  all  nations,  immersing  them." 
"  He  that  believeth  and  is  immersed  shall  be  saved." 

2.  That  baptism  is  nothing  short  of  immersion,  is  obvious, 
from  its  being  called  a  burial.     See  Rom.  vi.  4  :   "  Buried  with 
him  by  baptism  into  death."     Col.  ii.  12. :  "  Buried  with  him 
in  baptism,  wherein  also   ye  are  risen  with  him  through  the 
faith  of  the  operation  of  God,  who  hath  raised  him  from  the 
dead."     All  can  see  that  neither  sprinkling  nor  pouring  is  a 
burial.     How  would  it  read,  Buried  with  him  by  sprinkling  ? 
Buried  with  him  by  pouring  f 

3.  That  sprinkling  it  not  baptism,  is  certain,  because  it  does 
not  represent  the  thing  signified.     Baptism  is  designed  to  show 
forth  our  death  to  sin  and  the  world,  and  our  faith  in  the  death, 
burial,  and  resurrection  of  Christ ;  it  also  shows  to  the  world 
that  Christ,  having  been  raised  from  the  dead,  has  become  the 
first  fruits  of  them  that  slept,  and  that  he  will  enable  us  to  ex- 
claim, O   death,  where   is   thy  sting?    O   grave,   where   is   thy 
victory?    See  1  Cor.  xv.  29:  "Else  what  shall  they  do  who 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  245 

are  baptized  for  the  dead,  if  the  dead  rise  not  at  all  ?  Why  are 
they  then  baptized  for  the  dead  ?  "  Here  the  apostle  is  speaking 
upon  the  resurrection,  and  argues  that  the  ordinance  would  be 
without  meaning  if  there  be  no  resurrection. 

4.  That  Christ  and  the  apostles  required  immersion,  and  not 
sprinkling,  is  obvious  from  the  circumstances  recorded  in  the 
New  Testament.  They  came  from  Judea  and  Jerusalem,  and 
from  the  region  round  about,  to  be  baptized  in  Jordan.  "  John 
baptized  in  Enon,  near  to  Salem,  because  there  was  much 
water  there."  They  went  down  into  and  came  up  out  of  rivers, 
which  never  would  have  been  done,  never  is  done,  to  sprinkle 
persons. 

OBJECTIONS.  —  1.  It  is  said  the  Greek  preposition  eis  means 
unto,  and  that  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  baptized  went 
"into"  the  water,  or  "came  out"  of  it.  I  need  not  say  a 
word  on  this  subject  to  the  Greek  scholar  ;  but  let  the  English 
reader  bear  in  mind  that  this  rendering  of  eis  in  other  passages 
where  it  occurs,  would  destroy  all  the  miracles  recorded  in  the 
Bible,  and  overthrow  the  whole  system  of  Christianity.  We 
are  told  the  three  Hebrew  children  were  cast  into  the  fiery 
furnace,  and  there  was  not  the  smell  of  fire  on  their  garments. 
What  miracle  is  there  in  this,  if  they  only  went  to  the  furnace  ? 

In  like  manner,  we  are  informed  that  Daniel  was  thrown  into 
the  den  of  lions,  and  that  they  did  not  attack  him ;  but  if  he 
was  merely  taken  to  the  den,  of  course  the  lions  could  not  get 
hold  of  him.  And  again,  how  easy  to  say  that  the  swine  merely 
went  to  the  sea.  Were  we  thus  to  resort  to  such  a  wicked  and 
dangerous  perversion  of  the  several  accounts  contained  in  the 
Sacred  Scriptures,  we  could  easily  explain  away  many  of  its 
recorded  wonders. 

The  same  mode  of  cavilling  will  overthrow  the  future  punish- 
ment of  the  wicked.  God  says  the  wicked  shall  be  cast  into 
hell ;  but  who  knows,  according  to  this  wonderful  invention, 
but  that  they  will  be  carried  only  to  hell?  Then,  worst  of  all, 
there  is  no  evidence  that  any  of  us  will  ever  enter  into  heaven. 


246  RESTRICTED   AND   MIXED   COMMUNION,  BY 

We  may  go  to  heaven,  but  into  what  place  or  condition  we  shall 
enter  God  only  can  tell. 

2.  It   is  said  that   there  were   not ,  water   conveniences   in 
Jerusalem  sufficient  for  the  immei'sion  of  the  three  thousand 
persons  who  were  converted  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.     But  all 
who  are  acquainted  with  the  history  of  that  city,  aud  many  who 
have  visited  it,  know  it  contained  five  pools  of  water,  in  either 
one  of  which  that  number  of  persons  could  have  been   con- 
veniently immersed. 

3.  It  is  said,  also,  that  three  thousand  persons  could  not  have 
been  immersed  in  one  day.     I  beg  my  dear  readers  to  bear  in 
mind  that  there  were  present  on  this  occasion  at  least  eleven 
apostles,  and  these  alone  could  have  immersed  the  whole  of 
them  in  less  than  three  hours.     I  have  myself  immersed  in  the 
Crooked  L^ke,  N.  Y.,  sixty  persons  in  twenty-eight  minutes,  by 
the  watch,  and  that  too  without  undue  haste.     Besides,  it  is 
altogether  probable  that  the  seventy  disciples  were  also  there ; 
and  these,  added  to  the  number  of  the  apostles,  could  have  ren- 
dered the  administration  of  the  ordinance  to  so  many  a  matter 
of  perfect  ease.     Indeed,  in  the  matter  of  time,  we  are  of  the 
opinion  that  it  requires  scarcely  any  more  time  to  immerse  a 
given  number  of  candidates  than  it  does  to  sprinkle  water  upon 
them.     So  that  nothing  important  is  gained  in  time  by  supposing 
the  three  thousand  to  have  been  sprinkled,  unless  we  imagine 
that  the  rantism  was  performed  on  them  en  masse;  and  there  is 
as  much  reason  for  imagining  this  latter  method  as  for  imagin- 
ing that  they  were  sprinkled  at  all. 

4.  It  is  thought  by  many  that  the  jailer  must  have  been 
sprinkled.     This  notion  rests  upon  the  supposition  that  he  was 
rantized  in  the  cell  where  Paul  and  Silas  were  confined.     The 
record^  as  contained  in  Acts  xvi.  33,  is,  that  he  took  them  the 
same  hour  of  the  night,  and  washed  their  stripes ;  and  was  bap- 
tized, he  and  all  his  straightway.     The  account  itself  implies 
more  of  service  and  preparation  than  could  be  conveniently  per- 
formed within  the  narrow  limits  and  unfurnished  apartments  of  a 
prisoner's  cell ;  besides,  it  is  hardly  to  be  supposed  that  the  jailer 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  247 

would  have  subjected  his  household  to  the  inconvenience  of  pass- 
ing from  the  house  to  the  cell  in  order  to  be  sprinkled.  But  when 
we  remember  that  in  the  East  the  prison  yards  contained  pools, 
or  tanks,  for  the  purposes  of  ablution,  it  is  easy  to  see  how  readily 
they  could  have  been  immersed.  Besides,  the  account  further 
states,  that  after  they  had  been  baptized,  he  brought  the  apostles 
into  his  house,  so  that  the  family  must  have  gone  out  of  the 
house  to  be  baptized  ;  whereas,  if  sprinkling  had  been  the  mode, 
it  is  more  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  apostles  would  have 
been  taken  into  the  house  for  the  purpose  of  performing  the 
ceremony. 

From  this  view  of  the  subject,  it  may  be  seen  that  the  Bap- 
tist denomination,  in  the  practice  of  restricted  communion,  are 
not  bigoted  nor  uncharitable ;  that  they  are  conscientiously 
keeping  the  ordinances  as  the  apostles  delivered  them  unto  us, 
adhering  strictly  to  Bible  rule ;  making  the  word  of  God  the 
rule  of  action,  and  not  the  consciences  and  traditions  of  men. 
It  should  be  understood  that  those  \vho  practise  restricted 
communion,  do  not  say  by  it  that  they  do  not  fellowship  Pedo- 
baptists  as  Christians,  but  that  they  do  not  fellowship  Pedo- 
baptism,  or  sprinkling ;  nor  do  they  say  that  they  do  not  love 
them  as  much  as  they  love  themselves.  They  could  not  com- 
mune with  themselves  had  they  been  sprinkled,  and  not  baptized  ; 
and  we  are  not  commanded  to  love  our  neighbor  better  than 
ourselves,  but  are  strictly  forbidden  to  love  ourselves,  or  our 
neighbors,  more  than  we  love  God.  There  may  be  in  a  com- 
munity hundreds  of  young  converts  who  have  not  been  baptized, 
and  are  not  yet  members  of  any  church  ;  and  however  dear  these 
converts  might  be  to  the  church,  and  to  the  Savior  too,  no 
consistent  church  would  feel  themselves  justifiable  in  inviting 
them  to  the  communion  table.  Why  not?  Because  they  have 
not  been  baptized,  nor  have  they  been  regularly  inducted  into 
the  church ;  for  the  same  reason  a  consistent  Baptist  church 
cannot  invite  a  Pedobaptist  to  the  table  of  the  Lord,  and  yet 
they  may  love  them  as  they  love  these  yc.ung  converts,  and 


248  RESTRICTED   AND  MIXED   COMMUNION,  BY 

Christ  may  love  them  too  ;  yea,  as  they  love  themselves,  and 
treat  them  just  as  they  would  be  treated  in  like  circumstances. 
When  Christ  took  the  twelve  apostles  into  an  upper  room,  and 
broke  the  bread  to  them,  there  were  many  other  true  Christians 
in  Jerusalem,  who  were  not  invited  to  participate  with  them,  be- 
cause not  yet  regularly  admitted  into  the  church  ;  because  some- 
thing more  than  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  requisite  to 
their  being  admitted  to  the  Lord's  supper. 

From  what  has  been  said,  it  may  be  seen  that  the  Christian 
world  is  divided  upon  the  subject  of  baptism,  and  that  this  is 
the  cause  of  their  separation  at  the  communion  table.  And  two 
things  are  worthy  of  note  in  this  matter :  one  is,  should  they 
commune  together,  the  Baptist  must  violate  his  conscience,  and 
nothing  would  be  gained  by  it ;  they  would  still  remain  distinct 
bodies,  and  the  whole  ground  of  controversy  would  remain 
unsettled.  The  other  is,  however  desirable  it  may  be  for  all 
divisions  to  be  done  away,  and  all  the  members  of  Christ's  fam- 
ily to  be  harmonized  in  one  body,  the  Baptist  cannot  go  over  to 
the  Pedobaptist  churches  without  violating  conscience,  or  going 
contrary  to  his  honest  views  of  Bible  rule  and  apostolic  example, 
because  he  does  not,  he  cannot  believe  sprinkling  is  baptism,  or 
that  unconscious  babes  have  any  right  to  the  ordinance.  But 
the  Pedobaptist  can  come  over  to  the  Baptist  denomination 
without  violating  conscience,  because  he  does  believe  immersion 
is  baptism,  and  that  true  believers  are  proper  subjects  for  that 
ordinance. 

I  would  now  ask  the  convert,  who  is  not  yet  a  member  of 
any  church,  to  consider,  that  if  you  remain  where  you  are,  you 
exclude  yourself  from  communion  with  all  Christian  churches  ; 
and  if  you  join  a  Baptist  church,  you  are  excluded  by  Bible  rule 
from  communion  with  Pedobaptist  churches  ;  and  if  you  join  a 
Pedobaptist  church,  you  exclude  yourself  from  communion  with 
the  whole  Baptist  denomination,  and  that  too  when  the  Baptist 
denomination  are  bound  by  conscience  and  by  Bible  rule  to 
maintain  the  stand  they  have  taken,  and  Pedobaptist  churches 
can  come  over  to  them  without  violating  their  conscience,  and. 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  249 

all  practise  one  way,  and  have  "  one  Lord,  one  faith,  and  one 
baptism,"  and  one  communion  table,  one  church,  and  all  striving 
for  one  and  the  same  things. 

It  may  be  asked,  How  can  they  commune  together  in  heaven, 
if  not  on  earth  ?  We  answer,  there  will  be  no  bread  and  wine 
administered  in  heaven.  Christian  fellowship  we  all  have  on 
earth  ;  all  Christians  will  have  it  in  heaven.  Church  fellowship 
is  interrupted  here  by  our  different  views  of*  church  building ; 
but  in  heaven  there  will  be  no  difference  of  opinion  —  all  errors 
will  be  done  away.  Had  infant  baptism,  and  all  other  errors, 
been  kept  out  of  the  church  from  the  apostolic  day  down  to  the 
present  period,  there  had  been  no  schisms,  no  breach  of  com- 
munion on  earth.  The  sin,  then,  of  our  separation  at  the  Lord's 
table  on  earth  lies  at  the  door  of  those  who  introduced,  and 
those  who  still  practise,  infant  sprinkling.  Let  this  corruption 
of  the  Papal  church  be  done  away,  and  all  Protestant  churches 
may  come  together. 

1  may  be  asked,  Can  Baptist  churches  commune  with  a  person 
of  good  standing  in  a  Pedobapttist  church,  who  has  been  im- 
mersed upon  the  profession  of  his  faith  in  Christ  ?  I  answer,  in 
my  opinion  they  can  do  it  without  violating  any  Bible  rule, 
though  it  has  been  made  to  appear  that  mixed  communion  is 
attended  with  many  difficulties  and  no  advantages.  I  say  it  can 
be  done  without  violating  any  Bible  rule,  and  that,  because, 
notwithstanding  there  is  an  inconsistency  in  a  baptized  believer 
remaining  in  and  communing  with  an  unbaptized  church,  yet  wo 
are  not  positively  required  by  the  word  of  God  to  exclude  from 
our  fellowship  a  brother  for  every  inconsistency.  But  as  God 
does  require  in  his  word  that  all  persons  should  be  baptized  before 
they  come  to  the  communion  table,  and  as  the  primitive  church  did 
comply  with  this  requirement,  we  cannot  extend  the  communion 
to  an  unbaptized  person  without  violating  this  Bible  rule,  and 
going  counter  to  the  apostolic  example.  Lastly,  I  would  ask,  Is 
there  anything  more  unfriendly  or  exclusive  in  restricting  the  com- 
munion of  each  denomination  to  itself,  than  there  is  in  restricting 
any  other  church  act  to  itself  ?  such  as  the  reception,  discipline, 
18 


250  RESTRICTED   AND   MIXED   COMMUNION. 

and  exclusion  of  members,  the  consecration,  or  setting  apart  of 
the  officers  of  the  church,  or  their  deposition?  It  is  not  the 
practice  of  mixed  communion  churches  to  invite  persons  belong- 
ing to  other  denominations  to  participate  with  them  in  these 
things.  And  why  ?  Because  they  belong  to  another  body.  Nor 
do  we  complain  of 'them  for  it,  by  calling  them  bigoted  and  un- 
charitable ;  and  yet  I  see  no  reason  why  we  might  not  as  well 
complain  of  bigotry  in  this  thing,  as  they  in  our  choosing  to 
commune  by  ourselves.  We  think,  inasmuch  as  theje  is  a  dif- 
ference of  opinion,  and  this  difference  of  opinion  has  caused  or 
produced  different  denominations,  that  the  best  course  we  can 
pursue  is  to  go  together  as  far  as  we  think  alike,  then  part  in 
friendship,  and  let  each  denomination  pursue  its  own  course, 
without  aspersions  or  abuse,  until  the  errors  which  separate  us 
are  removed  ;  and  then  these  distinct  organizations  may  be  dis- 
solved, and  all  enter  one  body,  drink  into  one  spirit,  and  rejoice 
in  one  Lord,  one  faith,  and  one  baptism;  and  then  all  can  sit 
down  at  one  communion  Itable.  And  that  the  Lord  would 
hasten  this  glorious  period,  l&Pall  who  love  Zion  most  sincerely 
»ud  devoutly  pray.'  'A^toen,  and  Amen. 


SERMONS. 


L* 

LESSONS    TAUGHT    BY    THE    OX. 

"The  ox  Jcnoweth  his  owner,  and  the  ass  his  master's  crib; 
but  Israel  doth  not  know,  my  people  doth  not  consider."  — 
ISAIAH  i.  3. 


I 


N  this  connection  the  Lord  is  urging  a  very  just  and  grievous 
complaint  against  his  own  people  for  their  stupidity  and  for- 
getfulness  in  matters  of  daty ;  and'  ae  carries  this  complaint 
first  to  the  heavens^and  says,  "  Hear,  O  heavens  !  "  because  the 
heavens  are  more  faithful  in  answering  the  end  of  their  being 
than  man.  The  sun  has  never  Refused  to  shine,  for  one  mo- 
ment, since  God  separated  the  light  from  the  darkness ;  the 
moon  has  always  been  faithful,  and  reflected  her  pale  rays  upon 
the  pathway  of  the  traveller  ;  and  the  stars  have  never  ceased 
to  twinkle.  They  all  answer  the  end  of  their  creation.  But 
man  has  become  an  opaque  body.  Man  is  as  a  wandering  star. 
He  has  left  his  orbit,  and  he  passes  on  and  on,  and  withholds 
the  light  which  God  appointed  him  to  reflect,  and  which  he  is 
capable  of  reflecting  upon  his  fellow-men.  And  then  he  carries 
this  complaint  to  the  earth  :  "  Give  ear,  O  earth  ! "  implying 
that  the  earth  even  is  more  faithful  to  answer  the  end  of  its 

*  Delivered  Sunday  morning,  November  25,  1866,  in  the  Blooming- 
dale  Baptist  church,  New  York  city. 

(241) 


252  SERMONS   BY 

creation  than  is  man ;  for  the  earth  has  never  withheld  its 
increase  from  the  time  God  made  it  until  now.  The  sun  no 
sooner  melts  away  the  banks  of  snow,  breaks  up  the  frosty 
fetters  of  earth  and  warms  its  bosom,  than  vegetation  springs 
forth,  the  fields  are  covered  with  green,  and  the  trees  with 
foliage ;  and  in  a  little  time  wefin,d  the  earth  burdened  with 
the  precious  fruits  of  abundanrand  varied  vegetation.  Even 
where  there  is  no  root  or  seed  planted,  we  find  the  mushroom 
springing  up  in  the  walks  of  men.  The  earth,  will  not  be 
barren  or  unfruitful ;  it  will  answer  the  end  of  its  creation. 
But,  alas,  how  many  barren  souls  there  are  in  the  human 
family  !  how  many  there  are  who  utterly  fail  to  bear  the  fruits 
of  the  spirit  of  love,  meekness,  faith,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost, 
humility,  and  all  the  graces  of  the  Christian,  which  we  "ought  to 
produce  in  abundance  !  In  fact  there  are  many  who  utterly 
fail  to  produce  a  single  one  of  these  fruits. 

What  extreme  barrenness  and  unfruitfulness  there  is  even  on 
the  part  of  many  of  the  children  of  God  h  And  I  do,  not  wonder 
that  God  says,  "  Hear,  O  heavens,  and  .give  ear,  O  earth  ;  " 
and  he  adds,  "  I  have  nourished  and  brought  up  children,  and 
they  have  rebelled  against  me."  What  a^  pathetic  appeal  is 
this !  "I  have  nourished  and  brought  up  children,  and  they 
have  rebelled  against  me."  Perhaps  some  of  us  who  are 
parents  feel  the  force  of  this  complaint.  We  have  reared  our 
children  from  their  infancy,  we  have  watched  over  them  by 
night  and  by  day,  we  have  toiled  early  and  late,  and  to  the  ex- 
tent of  our  capacity,  to  provide  for  their  necessities  and  their 
comfort,  and  to  make  them  respectable  in  the  world  ;  and  they 
turn  their  backs  upon  us,  they  trample  our  precepts  under  their 
feet,  and  some  hard-hearted  miscreant  has  more  influence  over 
them  than  the  father  who  begat  them,  or  the  mother  who 
brought  them  forth,  and  watched  over  them  from  tender  infancy 
up  to  womanhood  or  manhood.  So  God  says,  "  I  have  nour- 
ished and  brought  up  children,  and  they  have  rebelled  against 
me."  He  has  brought  us  up  from  infancy,  and  fed  us  with 
the  fulness  of  wheat,  with  milk,  with  butter,  with  oil,  and  with 


ELDER    JACOB    KNAPP.  253 

honey,  and  supplied  all  our  wants ;  and  we,  his  children, 
have  turned  our  backs  upon  him,  have  trampled  his  precepts 
under  our  feet,  and  have  followed  in  the  way  of  darkness  and 
death.  And  so^Ciod  may  <welj  complain  of  the  children  of 
men,  and  cry  oiit,  "Ah,. sinful  nation,  a  people  laden  with 
iniquity,  a  seed  of  evil,  doers. '^  And  then  he  says,  "  The 
whole  head  is  sick,  andj,he  .whole  ;heart  is  faint.  From  the 
sole  of  the  foot  even  unto  the  head  there  is  no  soundness  in  it, 
but  wounds,  and  bruises,  and  putrefying  sores ;  they  have 
not  been  closed,  neithe'r  bound  up,  neither  mollified  with  oint- 
ment." 

The  figure  is  this :  The  father  is  castigating  the  wayward 
son  who  sets  up  his  will  against  his  father's  ;  and  the  father  lays 
on  the  rod,  again  and  again,  until  his  whole  person  may  be 
gored  with  blood,  and  show  the  marks  of  the  rod  ;  and  the  father 
pauses,  and  says  to  the  son,  "  Why  should  ye  be  stricken  any 
more?  Why  stand  out  against  your  father,  and  put  him  to 
the  painful  necessity  of  laying  on  the  rod?  "  He  would  rather 
receive  thfe  stripes  on  his  own  back  than  lay  them  on  his  son, 
if  it  would  answer  the  same  purpose  ;  but  the  son  stands  out  in 
rebellion,  and  the  father  is  compelled  to  chastise  him.  So  God 
deals  with  the  children  of  men.  He  deprives  them  of  their 
earthly  possessions  ;  he  lays  those  who  are  near  and  dear  to 
them  on  the  bed  of  death  ;  one  after  another  of  their  friends  is 
borne  to  the  grave,  and  God  chastises  them ;  and  yet  they 
stand  out,  and  utterly  fail  to  answer  the  end  of  their  being. 
And  then  he  says,  "  The  ox  knoweth  his  owner  "  (the  stupid, 
lowly  ox  knoweth  his  owner),  "  and  the  ass  his  master's  crib  ; 
but  Israel  doth  not  know,  my  people  doth  not  consider." 

Now  the  doctrine  of  the  text  is  simply  this :  The  ox,  the 
stupid,  lowly  ox,  and  the  stubborn,  refractory  ass,  have  more 
sagacity  in  their  sphere,  and  more  submission  to  the  will  of 
their  owner,  than  man  has  in  his  sphere  to  the  will  of  his 
Owner.  This  is  the  doctrine  of  the  text. 

1.  Now  notice  in  the  first  place,  u  the  ox  knoweth  his  owner." 
There  is  not  an  ox  in  all  this  world,  which  has  long  been  owned, 


254  SERMONS  BY 

fed,  and  driven  by  one  man,  but  knoweth  that  man  from  every 
other  man  ;  and  very  often  he  becomes  very  much  attached  to 
him.  He  knows  the  sound  of  his  voice,  his  coming  in  and 
going  out,  and  understands  what  he  wants  him  to  do ;  but, 
alas !  how  many  of  the  human  family  know  not  their  rightful 
owner  —  God. 

How  many  there  are  who  are  ignorant  of  the  very  being  of 
God.  The  fool  hath  said  in  his  heart,  There  is  no  God.  He 
shuts  his  eyes,  and  can  see  no  God ;  he  closes  his  ears,  and  can 
hear  no  God  ;  and  he  says,  "  I  am  determined  to  acknowledge 
no  God  ;  "  and  he  goes  blindly  on,  and  never  knows  his  Owner. 
Yet  the  evidences  of  God's  existence  are  all  around  him,  on 
every  hand  ;  and  so  plain  as  not  to  be  gainsaid  or  resisted  for 
a  moment.  God  has  displayed  his  existence  in  every  blade  of 
grass  that  grows,  in  every  leaf  that  flutters  in  the  wind,  in  every 
stream  that  softly  murmurs  through  the  landscape,  and  in  the 
sunbeam,  and  in  the  sky.  Around  us,  on  every  side,  we  see  the 
work  of  Almighty  God ;  and  yet  men  shut  their  eyes  against 
these  evidences,  and  cry  out,  "  There  is  no  God."  They  do  not 
know  God. 

Why  do  not  acorns  grow  on  pumpkin  vines,  and  pumpkins 
on  oak  trees,  if  everything  happens  by  chance  ?  If  things  were 
left  to  chance,  and  pumpkins  grew  on  oak  trees,  it  would  be 
dangerous  to  stand  under  them  on  a  windy  day,  and  have 
pumpkins,  weighing  one  hundred  pounds  each,  tumbling  down 
and  striking  you  on  the  head.  And  yet  you  say  there  is-  no 
God. 

Would  to  God  this  infidelity  were  confined  to  those  who 
openly  profess  infidelity ;  but,  alas !  there  is  too  much  of  it  to 
be  found  in  the  church  among  the  professed  children  of  God. 
When  God  is  chastising  us  for  our  rebellious  spirit,  and  for  our 
waywardness,  and  is  laying  on  the  rod  more  or  less  severely, 
as  the  case  may  be,  how  many  are  all  the  time  ascribing  their 
afflictions  to  chance  and  luck  !  They  say,  "  It  so  happened," 
"  It  was  their  luck,"  and  act  as  though  their  owner  was  not 
chastising  them,  but  all  their  misfortunes  were  the  result  of 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  255 

blind  chance.  They  do  not  know  God.  They  do  not  see  or 
recognize  the  hand  of  God  which  is  dealing  with  them,  and 
laboring  to  bring  them  to  terms  of  submission  to  his  will. 
Hence  we  see  that  God  may  well  complain,  and  say,  "  Israel 
doth  not  know ;  my  people  doth  not  consider.  Ah,  sinful 
nation."  I  knew,  in  my  experience,  a  deacon  of  a  Christian 
church  who  had  a  dairy  of  ninety-nine  cows,  and  who  wanted 
to  have  the  round  number  of  one  hundred  cows.  He  had  a 
poor  neighbor  who  had  but  one  cow  in  the  world  with  which  to 
supply  the  wants  of  a  large  family  of  children  with  milk  and 
butter,  and  this  wealthy  deacon,  in  order  to  secure  a  debt  which 
the  poor  man  owed  him,  took  his  only  cow.  Well,  all  through 
the  summer  he  complained  of  having  very  bad  luck.  His  butter 
would  not  come,  skippers  got  into  his  cheese,  and  the  murrain 
broke  out  amongst  his  cows.  He  did  not  know  God ;  "  it  so 
happened "  that  he  had  very  bad  luck.  He  probably  lost  a 
hundred  times  more  than  the  amount  of  the  debt  his  poor 
neighbor  owed  him.  God  was  chastising  him  in  this  way  ;  he 
was  laying  his  rod  upon  him,  but  he  did  not  know  God  did  it. 

And  so  when  God  chastises  us,  and  lays  his  rod  upon  us ; 
when  we  find  sickness  and  death  entering  our  families,  and  we 
are  compelled  to  sustain  heavy  losses  in  our  fortunes  ;  when  he 
is  thus  dealing  with  us  to  make  us  wiser  and  better,  how  many 
of  us  fail  to  see  God,  to  hear  his  voice,  and  to  recognize  him  in 
all  his  dealings  with  us  !  And  hence  God  says,  "  Israel  doth 
not  know  ;  my  people  doth  not  consider."  There  never  was  an 
ox  or  ass  so  stupid  as  not  to  know  when  his  master  was  chastis- 
ing him.  When  Balaam  arose  and  saddled  his  ass,  and  started 
off  to  curse  Israel,  and  the  angel  of  God  came  a*nd  stood  in  the 
way,  and  the  ass  saw  the  angel  and  turned  aside,  and  Balaam 
smote  him,  the  ass  knew  who  smote  him.  He  did  not  think 
that  he  had  had  very  bad  luck  and  a  most  unfortunate  trip.  No  ; 
poor  stupid  man,  who  does  not  know  his  Owner,  would  have 
reasoned  thus ;  but  the  ass  knew  from  whom  he  received  every 
single  stripe,  and  when  God  opened  his  mouth  he  rebuked  the 
mad  jess  of  the  prophet. 


256  SERMONS    BY 

There  are  many  thousands  who  never  understand  that  till 
their  stripes  come  from  God,  their  rightful  owner.  Very  often 
God  lays  the  rod  of  affliction  upon  a  family  who  are  irreligious, 
and  will  not  come  to  Jesus.  No  sermons,  no  prayers,  no 
tears,  no  tender  expostulations  can  melt  their  hearts  or  subdue 
their  wills,  and  bring  them  to  the  feet  of  their  dear  Redeemer, 
to  know  their  owner,  until  God  lays  on  the  rod,  works  against 
their  worldly  interests,  and  brings  them  low  down  in  the  dust. 
Then  they  are  moved  to  pray  for  grace  from  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  I  have  labored  in  some  towns  where  certain  families 
could  not  be  reached  ;  and  after  years  had  rolled  round  I  have 
returned  to  find  those  very  same  families  reduced  from  wealth 
to  poverty  ;  to  find  that  they  had  suffered  sickness,  the  loss  of 
friends,  and  distresses  of  every  kind ;  and  that  through  the 
special  providence  of  God  they  were  now  ready  to  come  to 
Christ,  and  recognize  him  as  their  rightful  owner.  So  God 
chastises  the  children  of  men,  but  they  do  not  know  him,  and 
they  stand  out  and  revolt  more  and  more.  Squire  S.,  a  splendid 
man  and  able  lawyer,  in  Athens,  Cherry  Valley,  N.  Y.,  said, 
"  I  would  never  submit  my  heart  to  God.  I  never  knew  my 
Creator  until  God  entered  my  family  and  took  my  two  little 
boys.  lie  called  them  away  ;  and  when  they  were  laid  side  by 
side  in  the  grave,  I  was  completely  broken  down  and  subdued. 
I  went  to  my  room  and  bowed  down  on  my  knees,  and  called 
on  God  for  mercy ;  and  God,  for  Christ's  sake,  forgave  my 
sins."  So  God  chastises  the  children  of  men  in  order  to  bring 
them  to  submission  to  his  will,  and  to  make  them  know  their 
owner. 

2.  But  we  itmark  again,  they  do  not  know  enough  to  come 
at  the  bidding  of  their  owner,  and  yet  the  ox  does.  You  go 
out  to  yoke  a  pair  of  oxen,  and  you  find  them  lying  down, 
chewing  the  cud.  Go  inside  the  yard,  and  speak  to  them,  and 
they  will  rise  up  and  bow  their  necks  to  receive  the  yoke. 
They  know  you  are  about  to  yoke  them,  but  they  do  not  lie 
still  and  refuse  to  rise,  and  say,  "  If  you  want  to  yoke  us  come 
here  ;  "  or,  "  We  do  not  want  to  work  to-day  ;  "  or,  "  We  fear 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP  257 

that  if  we  bow  our  necks  to  the  yoke  we  may  change  our  minds, 
and  run  off  and  break  up  the  team."  They  do  not  stand  out, 
and  cavil  and  parley,  like  many  sinners,  but  they  obey  the 
command  of  their  owner,  and  bow  their  necks  to  the  yoke  in 
submission.  But  God  comes  and  calls  for  sinners,  and  he  says, 
u  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy-laden,  and  I 
will  give  you  rest.  Take  my  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of  me  ;  for 
I  am  meek  and  lowly  of  heart,  and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your 
souls."  But  sinners  will  not  come.  They  say  "  We  dare  not 
promise  ;  we  dare  not  resolve  ;  we  fear  we  shall  not  hold  out : 
if  God  wants  to  convert  us,  why  cannot  he  convert  us  as  we 
are?  why  must  we  go  to  him?"  Thus  they  stand  out,  and 
.cavil  and  parley ;  and  God  may  well  say,  "  Israel  doth  not 
know  ;  my  people  doth  not  consider." 

I  remember  that  on  one  occasion  in  Jefferson  County,  in  this 
State,  a  Uuiversalist,  named  R.,  came  six  miles  to  hear  me  preach. 
He  had  not  heard  a  sermon  for  ten  years  ;  but  having  received 
strange  reports  about  thfe  speaker,  he  was  moved  by  curiosity  to 
see  what  kind  of  a  being  I  was.  Before  he  came  to  the  meeting 
—  being  a  man  of  bad  temper,  and  having  no  grace  to  control 
his  temper  —  he  had  beaten  one  of  his  oxen  most  unmercifully  ; 
the  ridges  stood  out  over  its  whole  body,  and  it  was  scarcely 
able  to  stand  on  its  feet ;  and  as  God  would  have  it,  I  preached 
from  this  very  text  that  day.  I  spoke  of  God's  goodness ; 
what  a  kind  owner  he  was ;  that  he  never  gave  an  unneces- 
sary blow,  and  yet  men  rebelled  against  him  ;  while  the  ox 
very  often  had  a  bad  master,  who  beat  him  unmercifully, 
yet  the  creature  would  obey  his  owner,  and  do  just  as  he  bid 
him.  The  man  became  very  uneasy,  and  thought  that  some 
one  had  told  me  about  his  beating  the  ox.  He  said  to  himself, 
"  If  I  could  find  him  out,  I  would  cowskiu  him."  Soon  after, 
he  said,  he  resolved  to  cowskin  me  for  dragging  him  out  and 
exposing  him  before  so  many  people.  He  thought  of  leaving 
the  house,  but  said,  "  If  I  go  they  will  all  look  at  me,  and 
know  that  Kuapp  means  me  ;  "  so  he  kept  his  seat,  and  sweat  it 
out.  After  the  sermon  he  went  home,  and  said,  "  Wife,  I 


258  SERMONS  BY 

have  not  heard  a  sermon  before  for  ten  years,  and  I  got  preach- 
ing enough  to-day  to  last  me  another  ten  years."  He  retired, 
but  could  not  sleep ;  he  could  not  help  thinking  what  a  kind 
owner  God  was,  and  that  he  had  never  served  him,  had  never 
loved  him,  had  never  done  a  single  thing  to  please  him ;  while 
he  had  been  cruel  and  unkind  to  his  oxen,  and  yet  they  had 
served  him  and  obeyed  him  in  all  respects.  In  the  morning  he 
went  out  to  yoke  his  oxen,  and  it  so  happened  that  it  was  the 
near  one  which  he  had  beaten  so  badly  the  day  before  ;  and  as 
he  approached  them,  holding  the  bow  in  one  hand  and  the  yoke 
in  the  other,  and  called  to  them,  the  near  one  rose  up  and  came 
to  him,  and  bowed  its  neck  to  the  yoke.  At  this  evidence  of 
submission  to  his  will,  the  man,  remembering  the  sermon  he 
had  heard,  dropped  the  yoke,  started  back,  and  cried,  "  O  God  ! 
thou  hast  ever  been  a  kind  owner,  and  a  merciful  God  to  me, 
and  I  have  never  obeyed  thee  in  the  first  thing ;  this  ox  has 
had  a  cruel  and  hard  master  in  me,  and  yet  he  will  do  every- 
thing I  tell  him.  God  have  pity  upon  me."  He  was  so  over- 
come by  his  feelings  that  he  could  do  no  work,  and  he  went 
into  the  house,  and  said,  "  Wife,  if  you  have  a  mind  to  go  to 
church  again,  I  will  go  down  with  you  ; "  and  they  cauie  and 
reached  there  at  the  commencement  of  the  nine  o'clock  meeting. 
When  he  rose  up  to  state  these  facts,  and  ask  for  our  prayers, 
he  fell  his  whole  length  on  the  carpet,  and  was  converted  to 
God  before  he  left  the  house.  Now  see  what  a  powerful 
preacher  the  ox  is  !  The  stupid,  lowly  ox  evinces  more  sagacity 
and  more  submission  to  the  will  of  his  owner  than  man  in  his 
sphere,  and  hence  God  sends  us  to  learn  wisdom  of  the  ox.  A 
strange  pass  we  have  come  to,  when  we  must  be  sent  to  school 
to  the  ox  and  ass  to  learn  wisdom  ;  and  yet  God  sends  us  to 
this  school,  and  to  this  school  we  must  go. 

3.  Then  we  observe  again,  that  the  ox  knows  that  his  owner 
has  a  yoke  for  his  neck,  and  yet  men  do  not  know  that  God  has 
a  yoke  for  their  necks,  as  Avell  as  a  crown  for  their  heads  ;  and 
that  if  they  will  not  wear  the  former,  they  never  can  the  latter. 
If  you  ask  me,  "  How  do  you  know  the  ox  has  so  much 


ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  259 

discernment?"  I  answer,  approach  an  ox  with  a  yoke  on  your 
shoulder,  and  frequently  he  will  rise  up  to  receive  it.  He  knows 
it  is  for  his  neck.  How  many  of  the  human  family  there  are 
who  never  seem  to  understand  that  God  has  a  yoke  for  their 
necks,  who  are  not  willing  to  be  bound,  or  to  make  any  sacred 
and  solemn  vows  to  their  owner,  but  who  only  care  to  study 
their  own  pleasure,  and  to  have  their  own  will  and  way,  rather 
than  be  united  with  people  who  love  God,  and  who  have  given 
a  solemn  pledge  to  serve  him  all  the  days  of  their  life !  And 
hence  it  is  that  God  says,  "  The  ox  knoweth  his  owner,  and 
the  ass  his  master's  crib  :  but  Israel  doth  not  know  ;  my  people 
doth  not  consider." 

4.  We  may  observe  again,  the  ox  knows  for  what  the  yoke 
is  designed ;  that  it  is  designed  to  capacitate  him  for  hard  ser- 
vice ;  and  that  he  understands  this,  is  cei'tain  from  the  fact  that 
when  you  lay  the  yoke  on  his  neck  he  will  frequently  begin  to 
loll.  This  is  the  result  of  an  association  of  ideas.  An  ox  will 
loll  when  he  is  doing  very  hard  service  in  the  heat  of  the  sun, 
and  when  the  yoke  touches  his  neck  he  associates  it  with  hard 
service,  and  the  sensation  is  for  the  moment  produced  ;  and  yet 
how  many  are  there  in  the  church  who,  when  they  unite  them- 
selves with  the  church,  do  not  understand  that  it  is  to  qualify 
them  for  hard  service  in  the  cause  of  religion  that  God  is 
putting  his  yoke  upon  them  !  They  only  come  out  and  profess 
religion  in  order  to  secure  peace  of  mind,  to  quiet  conscience 
while  they  live  in  pleasure,  knowing  that  they  will  have  some- 
body to  help  them  to  the  kingdom  of  Jesus.  What  would  you 
think  of  an  ox  who  reasoned  thus  :  "  I  will  bow  my  neck  to  the 
yoke,  and  if  I  get  too  lazy  to  do  my  share  of  the  work,  the 
other  ox  can  draw  me  along  too  ;  "  thus  consulting  his  own  in- 
dolence and  interest,  instead  of  the  interests  of  his  owner?  The 
truth  is,  my  beloved  friends,  God  has  called  us  away  from  the 
affairs  of  this  world  unto  the  kingdom  of  his  dear  Son,  that  we 
may  work  for  him,  that  we  may  be  workers  together  with  him, 
not  co-workers,  for  that  implies  partnership  in  the  stock.  God 
says,  "  Go  thou  into  my  vineyard,  a  ud  work  to-day."  Suppose 


260  SERMONS  BY 

an  ox,  after  you  had  yoked  him,  in  order  to  capacitate  him  for 
work,  should  lie  down  in  the  sun,  or  range  around  the  green 
pasture  and  enjoy  himself?  —  you  would  knock  such  an  ox  in 
the  head ;  but  the  ox  understands  that  the  yoke  is  intended  to 
capacitate  him  for  hard  service,  and  he  bows  to  it,  and  obeys 
the  commands  of  his  owner.  And  we  ought  to  understand, 
when  we  identify  ourselves  with  the  church  of  the  living  God, 
that  it  is  to  qualify  us  to  work  for  the  kingdom  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  that  we  may  be  laborers  together  with  him,  and 
go  forth  everywhere,  doing  good  and  striving  to  win  souls  to 
the  dear  Redeemer.  It  is  good  for  a  man  that  he  wear  the 
yoke,  and  that  he  wear  it  in  his  youth. 

5.  But,  again,  the  ox  seems  to  understand  that  the  yoke  is 
so  constructed  as  to  divide  the  burden  according  to  the  strength 
of  the  team.  For  instance,  if  the  oxen  be  of  equal  strength, 
the  point  of  draft  comes  in  the  centre  of  the  yoke ;  but  if  one 
of  the  oxen  be  stronger  than  the  other,  the  staple  is  removed 
nearer  one  end  than  the  other,  so  that  the  strongest  ox  shall 
have  more  than  half  of  the  burden  to  bear.  And  when  the  yoke 
is  laid  upon  their  necks,  and  they  are  ready  for  work,  they  do 
not,  when  commanded  to  move  forward,  shriuk  back,  and  one 
or  the  other  find  fault  because  he  has  the  heaviest  share  of  the 
burden  to  bear,  or  complain  that  the  load  is  unequally  divided, 
or  slip  his  neck  out  of  the  yoke  ;  but  he  settles  down  to  his 
work,  and  moves  forward. 

Now  understand  that  Jesus  Christ  has  constructed  his  yoke 
on  the  same  principle.  No  one  is  required  to  do  more  than  he 
or  she  is  able  to  do.  In  reference  to  moral  influence,  every  one 
is  required  to  love  the  Lord  his  God  with  ail  his  heart,  and  with 
all  his  mind,  and  with  all  his  soul,  and  with  all  his  strength. 
Now  God  never  commanded  that  little  boy  there  to  love  him 
with  all  the  mind,  the  heart,  the  soul,  and  the  strength  of  an  ex- 
perienced and  disciplined  Christian.  He  could  not  do  it  if  God 
demanded  it  of  him.  He  may  be  able  to  do  it  by  and  by,  but 
he  cannot  do  it  now.  So  God  requires  every  one  to  love  him 
with  all  the  heart  he  has. 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  201 

And,  in  like  manner,  we  are  required  to  give,  so  far  as  our 
fortunes  are  concerned,  according  to  our  several  ability.  Each 
is  required  to  give  according  to  what  he  hath,  not  according  to 
what  he  hath  not ;  but  every  one  should  give  something,  and 
should  do  something,  to  sustain  religious  worship,  and  to  extend 
the  kingdom  of  our  dear  Redeemer  throughout  the  world. 
Where  God  has  given  a  great  deal,  he  expects  more  than  where 
he  has  given  but  little  ;  but  he  requires  something  from  us  all ; 
and  we  should  settle  in  his  yoke,  which  is  lined  with  love,  and 
galls  no  man's  neck,  and  work  with  all  our  strength  for  the 
honor  and  glory  of  our  divine  Owner.  We  should  not  shrink 
back,  and  complain  that  the  burden  is  greater  than  we  can  bear. 
O,  think  of  the  burdens  Jesus  bore  for  us  !  And  is  it  not  enough 
for  the  servant  that  he  be  as  his  master,  and  for  the  disciple  that 
he  be  as  his  Lord? 

6.  It  may  be  observed  still  further,  that  men  do  not  seem  to 
know  that  their  owner  will  not  overload  them  ;  yet  the  ox  duly 
considers  this.  When  a  man  drives  a  team  of  oxen  up  to  a 
pile  of  stones,  or  boxes,  or  barrels,  or  anything  which  he  wishes 
to  remove  from  one  place  to  another,  he  considers  the  strength  of 
the  oxen,  and  he  puts  the  burden  on  according  to  their  strength  ; 
he  also  takes  into  consideration  the  state  of  the  road,  and  every 
advantage  or  disadvantage  which  they  will  have  to  encounter. 
When  all  things  are  in  readiness,  he  gives  the  command,  and 
they  move  on  and  on.  They  do  not  look  back  at  the  load,  and 
say  that  is  too  great  a  load  for  any  team  to  draw,  and  we  are 
not  going  to  draw  such  a  burden  as  that,  and  lie  down  and  try 
to  get  their  necks  out  of  the  yoke,  but  they  settle  in  the  yoke, 
and  strive  again  and  again  and  again,  until,  if  it  be  within 
their  power,  they  move  on. 

But  how  unwilling  His  people  are  to  draw  !  How  unwilling 
they  are  to  work  for  the  conversion  of  the  world !  How  often 
they  shrink  back,  an  1  fail  to  draw  the  burden  that  God  lays 
upon  them  !  The  Spirit  of  God  may  move  upon  your  mind  to 
induce  you  to  go  to  a  certain  family,  and  talk  and  pray  with 
them  on  the  subject  of  religion  They  have  no  light  on  the 


2G2  SERMONS  BY 

subject,  and  are  groping  their  way  in  midnight  davkuess  down 
to  the  pit,  and  the  tender  Spirit  of  God  is  urging  you  to  visit 
that  family,  and  talk,  and  pray  with  them  ;  but  you  say,  "  Lord, 
I  cannot  do  it.  Lord,  I  am  but  a  poor,  weak  brother  ;  and  what 
will  they  think  if  I  go  to  them,  and  talk  to  them  on  the  subject 
of  religion  ?  I  pray  thee  have  me  excused.  Let  some  one  else 
go,  who  is  more  worthy  and  capable  than  thy  servant."  They 
refuse  to  go,  and  will  not  draw  a  single  pound.  Now  I  want 
you  to  understand  that  whenever  God  moves  you  to  go  and  pray 
and  plead  with  a  sinner,  that  the  Spirit  is  at  the  same  time  striv- 
ing with  that  being.  When  the  eunuch  was  riding  along  in  his 
chariot,  the  Spirit  of  God  was  striving  with  him,  and  bringing 
the  words  of  the  prophet  to  bear  upon  his  mind.  The  same 
Spirit  told  Philip  to  go  that  way.  He  went,  not  knowing  why  ; 
and  when  he  came  within  sight  of  the  chariot,  the  Spirit  told 
him  to  join  himself  to  the  chariot,  and  he  did  so  ;  and  Philip 
said,  "  Understandest  thou  what  thou  readest?"  and  he  an- 
swered, "How  can  I,  unless  some  one  teach  me?"  and  Philip 
got  up  into  the  chariot,  and  opened  his  mouth,  and  preached  unto 
him  Jesus.  The  Spirit  that  moved  Philip  was  at  the  same  time 
laboring  with  the  eunuch,  and  striving  to  bring  him  into  the  king- 
dom of  God's  dear  Sou.  I  remember  many  striking  incidents 
of  the  kind  in  modern  times.  While  I  was  preaching  in  Boston, 
a  brother  felt  himself  impelled  to  visit  one  of  his  neighbors,  and 
converse  with  him  on  the  subject  of  religion  ;  and  his  wife  also 
desired  to  go  and  converse  with  that  neighbor's  wife,  although 
they  had  not  conferred  together  before.  At  length  the  brother 
went  to  see  his  neighbor,  and  he  found  this  man,  who  had  been 
very  sceptical,  under  deep  and  pungent  convictions.  He  greeted 
him  cordially,  and  told  him  that  he  was  grateful  that  he  had 
come,  for  he  had  long  desired  to  see  him  and  converse  with  him 
about  the  state  of  his  soul.  This  brother  also  found  his  wife 
there,  conversing  with  his  neighbor's  wife,  and  the  two  were 
speedily  converted  to  God. 

When  the  Spirit  comes,  and  moves  on  your  mind  to  go  and 
talk  and  pray  with  the  sinner,  go.     Do  not  shrink  back,  and 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  263 

say,  "  It  is  a  greater  load  than  I  am  capable  of  bearing."  I 
would  have  you  understand,  my  beloved,  that  God  has  said, 
"  My  grace  shall  be  sufficient  for  you,"  and  "  As  thy  days  are,  so 
shall  thy  strength  be."  We  shall  always  find  the  truth  of  these 
passages  if  we  try  the  experiment.  I  cannot  tell  what  God 
would  have  done  for  me  if  I  had  always  bowed  my  neck  to  his 
yoke,  and  had  never  shrunk  back,  in  one  single  instance,  from 
the  time  I  was  converted  until  now.  Thirty-five  or  six  years 
ago  a  brother  said  to  me,  "  How  long  do  you  expect  to  live, 
brother  Knapp?"  "Well,"  said  I,  "I  may  live  five  or  six 
years."  At  that  time  I  was  preaching  two  or  three  times  a 
day ;  preaching  and  praying  night  and  day,  and  delivering  fif- 
teen or  sixteen  sermons  a  week,  and  it  was  wearing  upon  me. 
I  had  not  then  -learned  to  husband  my  strength  as  I  have  since. 
"  Well,"  says  he,  "  you  will  not  live  two  years."  Little  did  I 
think  that  God  would  sustain  me  to  preach  on  for  thirty-five 
or  six  years  to  come,  day  and  night,  and  permit  me  to  witness 
what  I  have  as  the  effects  of  his  truth,  through  all  the  United 
States  of  America.  If  any  one  had  told  me  then  what  God  Avas 
about  to  accomplish  by  such  an  unworthy  worm,  I  might  have 
said,  "  If  the  Lord  should  make  windows  in  heaven,  then  these 
things  might  be." 

In  order  to  let  you  see,  that  as  our  days  are,  so  shall  our 
strength  be,  I  will  refer  you  to  a  striking  incident,  which  came 
under  my  own  observation  when  I  was  pastor  of  a  church  iu, 
Watertown,  N.  Y.  Brother  O.  was  one  of  my  deacons, — 
a  devout,  conscientious,  godly  man,  and  his  wife  a  pious  woman. 
His  father  had  consecrated  him  by  prayer  to  the  work  of  foreign 
missions.  He  was  a  printer  by  trade,  and  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions,  about  the  time  to  which  I  refer,  were  in  want  of  some 
one  to  print  the  Bible  in  the  Burmese  language  —  some  one  who 
nad  faith,  and  who  would  labor  to  do  good  wherever  the  provi- 
dence of  God  should  direct  him  ;  and  they  called  on  Deacon  O. 
He  then  had  but  one  child,  a  sweet  little  daughter  eighteen, 
mouths  old  ;  and  the  question  revolved  itself  in  sister  O.'s  miud, 
over  and  over  again,  "  Can  I  leave  this  dear  child,  and  never 


204  SERMONS  RY 

see  it  again  until  we  meet  at  the  judgment  seat  ?  "  for  it  was 
understood  that  you  could  not  bring  up  children  in  Burmah,  as 
the  sin  and  corruption  of  the  heathen  might  prove  their  ruin. 
Finally,  she  said,  "  Send  by  whom  thou  wilt,  only  excuse  me  : 
I  cannot  give  up  my  babe  ;"  and  they  declined  the  appointment. 
God  came  and  took  her  child  away  by  death  speedily.  A  few- 
years  rolled  around,  and  she  embraced  another  daughter  ;  and 
when  this  child  had  reached  an  age  when  it  could  be  safely  left 
by  its  mother,  a  second  call  came  from  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions,  and  again  the  question  arose,  "  Will  you  go  and 
preach  the  word  to  the  heathen  ?  ".  Sister  O.  looked  at  her  babe, 
whom  she  loved  with  all  the  love  of  a  mother,  but  she  answered 
this  time,  "  Lord,  I  will  go.  Thou  hast  said,  My  grace  shall 
be  sufficient  for  thee.  I  will  venture.  Lord,  I  will  go." 

In  the  mean  time  I  had  removed  my  family  to  Oswego  ;  and 
when  they  started  for  Boston,  from  which  point  they  designed 
sailing,  they  came  by  way  of  Oswego,  and  called  on  my  wife  in 
my  absence.  Sister  0.  told  my  wife,  that  as  she  gave  the  child 
a  last  embrace,  and  imprinted  on  its  lips  a  last  kiss,  she  turned 
her  face  towards  the  heathen  world,  and  towards  Jesus  for  the 
fulfilment  of  his  promise.  God  filled  her  soul  with  a  joy  un- 
speakable. "  Why,"  said  she,  to  my  wife,  "  I  have  enjoyed 
more  real  happiness  in  sailing  from  Sackett's  Harbor  to  Oswego, 
than  I  ever  enjoyed  in  my  life  before.  God  has  filled  my  soul, 
and  I  feel  that  I  can  rely  upon  his  promise,  — '  As  thy  days  are, 
so  shall  thy  strength  be.' " 

Sister  B.,  when  the  companion  of  her  youth  was  buried  in  a 
foreign  land,  having  toiled  his  life  away,  and  when  she  was  left 
a  lone  widow,  far  away  from  relatives  and  friends,  wrote  that 
she  gathered  consolation  by  repeating  this  passage  :  "  No  man 
hath  left  father  or  mother,  house  or  land,  for  my  sake  and 
the  gospel's,  but  he  shall  receive  a  hundred  fold  in  this  present 
time,  and  in  the  world  to  come  life  everlasting."  She  said, 
"  Whether  I  have  come  up  to  that  stipulation  or  not,  I  have 
realized  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  a  hundred  fold.  I  have 
had  more  enjoyment  in  the  heathen  land,  in  the  service  of  God, 


ELDER    JACOB    KNAPP.  265 

than  I  ever  bad  in  the  world  before."  Yes,  God  means  just 
what  be  says  ;  and  if  you  bow  your  neck  to  the  yoke,  he  will 
reward  you  a  hundred  fold  here,  and  in  the  world  to  come  give 
you  life  everlasting.  And  "  as  thy  days  are,  so  shall  thy 
strength  be." 

7.  It  may  be  observed  again,  that  we  do  not  consider  how 
much  we  cost  our  Owner.     The  ox  costs  but  little.     He  is  fed 
upon  straw  and  provender,  and  soon  comes  to  maturity,  and  a 
very  few  dollars  will  purchase  a  good  yoke  of  oxen  ;  but  God 
has  raised  us  up  as  his  children  ;  his  holy  angels  have  watched 
over  us ;    he  has  clothed  us,  and   fed  us,  and  supplied  our 
wants ;  his  guardian  care  has  been  round  about  us  day  and 
night.     And  then  look  at  the  price  of  our  souls'  redemption. 
Nothing  less  than  the  life-blood  of  God's  dear  Son  could  save 
the  soul.      Yet  "  Israel  doth   not  know,  my  people  doth  not 
consider,"  how  much  they  cost  their  owner. 

8.  Then,  again,  they  do  not  seem  to  consider  that  the  strength 
of  every  one  is  called  for.      No  doubt  many  of  you  have  seen  a 
number  of  oxen  yoked  together  to  draw  a  building  or  an  un- 
usually heavy  load,  and  have  observed  the  order  and  the  steadi- 
ness with  which  they  have  settled  down  to  their  work  when  the 
word  of  command  was  given,  and  how  they  have  all  pulled 
together  until  the  burden  moved.     Now,  when  God  requires  us 
all  to  take  hold  and  work  for  him,  how  few  there  are  who 
settle  with  the  yoke,  or  even  straighten  the  chains.     They  want 
somebody  else  to  draw.     The  ox  does  not  reason  in  this  way  : 
"  What  little  I  can  draw  will  make  no  difference  ;  I  will  stand 
still  and  let  the  others,  who  are  stronger  and  abler  than  I  am, 
do  the  work  ;  "  but  each  ox  knows,  when  the  command  is  given, 
what  he  is  expected  to  do,  and  he  does  it.     Now,  suppose  that 
every  member  of  this  church,  to  say  nothing  about  other  Chris- 
tians, had  taken  hold  at  the  beginning  of  this  meeting,  and  all 
had  done  what  they  could  for  Jesus :  had  gone  to  see  their 
neighbors,  and  prayed  with  them ;  had  visited  them  in  their 
parlors,  in  their  stores,  and  in  their  kitchens,  and  had  made  an 
effort  to  win  their  souls  to  Christ,  who  knows  what  might  not 

19 


266  SERMONS   BY 

have  been  accomplished  by  this  time?  Converts  might  r/ave 
been  made  by  hundreds.  How  few  there  are  who  do  anyt  mng 
to  help  move  on  the  ark  of  God.  And  God  says,  "  Tl  *  ox 
knoweth  his  owner,  and  the  ass  his  master's  crib :  but  J  arael 
doth  not  know  ;  my  people  doth  not  consider." 

9.  And  then  they  do  not  know  when  their  strength  ij  most 
needed ;  and  yet  the  ox  seems  to  know.  Often,  while  trav  lling, 
I  have  noticed  the  husbandman  with  his  team  of  oxen  ;  jnd  I 
have  observed  that  when  they  came  to  the  foot  of  a  hi  1  they 
would  straighten  themselves,  and  prepare  to  exert  the  ad£  Uional 
strength  that  was  necessary  to  draw  the  load  up  the  hill.  How 
many  church-members  there  are  who  will  draw  down  liiLJ  like 
a  yoke  of  unbroken  steers  ;  who  are  always  ready  and  milling 
when  there  are  no  burdens  to  bear  and  no  hardships  to  be 
endured ;  but  when  the  times  are  dark  and  lowering,  when 
there  are  debts  to  pay,  and  it  is  evident  there  must  be  &  great 
struggle  or  else  the  church  will  languish  or  die,  they  fall  off; 
they  absent  themselves  from  church  ;  they  have  nothing  to  give, 
no  assistance  to  render :  they  will  not  draw  a  single  pound. 

Just  so  it  is  when  there  is  any  great  reform  to  be  accom- 
plished, such  as  the  temperance  reform,  or  the  abolition  of 
slavery,  or  the  removal  of  any  other  blighting  and  sweeping 
curse  that  may  exist  among  the  people.  When  all  is  dark,  and 
public  opinion  is  on  the  wrong  side,  there  will  only  be  now  and 
then  an  individual  who  will  come  right  out  and  face  it,  and 
play  the  man  for  God.  The  mass  of  the  church  are  cowed,  and 
quail  before  public  opinion.  They  look  only  to  their  selfish 
interests  and  reputation  among  men,  instead  of  looking  at 
principle  and  working  for  God.  I  remember  very  well  when 
we  formed  the  first  temperance  society  in  America  We  had 
the  opposition  of  deacons  and  church-members,  as  well  as  the 
opposition  of  the  masses  of  the  wealthy,  and  thoso  who  were 
indifferent  to  religion.  We  had  to  preach,  and  pray,  and  toil 
on  early  and  late,  and  struggle  to  get  the  load  up  the  hill ;  but 
these  same  men  were  all  ready  to  jump  on  when  we  had  reached 
the  top,  and  all  wished  to  share  in  the  honor  and  the  spoils  of 


ELDER   JACOB    XNAPP.  267 

the  glorious  victory  we  had  achieved  by  divine  assistance. 
They  were  all  willing  to  ride  down  the  hill,  but  they  were  not 
so  willing  to  help  us  to  draw  up  the  hill.  It  was  so  with  the 
cause  of  Abolition.  I  remember  very  well  when  even  here  in 
the  Northern  States  the  mass  of  the  people  were  apologists  for 
slavery.  The  minister  could  not  lift  up  his  voice  against  this 
great  and  crying  sin  of  the  nation  without  being  met  with 
scowls  from  scores,  and  sometimes  hundreds,  of  the  church- 
members.  Their  politics  would  be  touched,  and  they  would 
hold  back,  and  would  not  draw  a  single  pound.  We  had  to 
struggle  and  toil  on  and  on  until  we  had  got  the  load  to  the  top 
of  the  hill,  and  then  they  jumped  on.  Then  all  were  abolition- 
ists, and  had  always  been  abolitionists,  and  if  it  had  not  been 
for  us  radicals,  they  would  have  succeeded  in  abolishing  slavery 
long  ago  !  Poor  souls  !  the  Lord  pity  you  !  The  devil  knows 
better  than  that.  The  fact  is,  if  it  had  not  been  for  those  who 
were  more  earnest  than  these  conservatives,  the  end  would 
never  have  been  reached.  But  come  on  ;  better  late  than  never  ; 
and  give  all  glory  to  God  who  has  achieved  the  victory. 

Elder  Leland,  who  used  to  hunt  foxes  and  deer  over  the 
mountains  of  Massachusetts,  used  to  say,  that  on  the  start,  when 
the  hunter  set  out  with  his  hounds,  nothing  could  be  heard  but 
the  sound  of  the  hounds  baying  over  the  mountain  top,  or  ring- 
ing through  the  valley ;  but  when  they  caught  sight  of  the 
game,  every  little  whiffet  set  up  a  yell,  and  the  voice  of  the 
hounds  was  drowned  by  their  noise.  This  is  true  of  reformers. 
A  good  brother  in  Pennsylvania,  now  in  heaven,  had  been  a 
faithful  and  thorough-going  anti-slavery  man  for  years,  but 
when  the  war  broke  out,  and  converts  to  anti-slavery  principles 
were  multiplied,  he  seemed  to  grow  silent,  and  have  nothing  to 
say.  A  friend  asked  him,  "  Why,  brother  Aaron,  how  is  it 
you  are  so  still  now,  when  you  have  all  along  been  such  an 
ardent  advocate  of  the  abolition  of  slavery  ?  "  and  he  replied, 
"  I  cannot  be  heard  for  the  noise  of  the  converts  !"  Let  them 
come. 

It  is  well  for  us  to  understand  where  our  strength  is  most 


268  SERMONS   BY 

needed  ;  and  when  we  see  any  reform,  which  should  be  brought 
about  for  the  good  of  the  world,  we  should  settle  in  the  yoke, 
and  help  to  pull  at  the  foot  of  the  hill.  Well,  we  are  now 
struggling  at  the  foot  of  the  -hill  with  the  word  of  God.  We 
are  laboring  for  the  salvation  of  tens  and  hundreds  of  souls,  and 
I  would  to  God  that  before  next  spring  hundreds  of  thousands 
might  be  converted  in  the  city  of  New  York ;  but  only  a  small 
band  is  engaged  in  this  struggle.  There  are  very  few  who  are 
willing  to  make  the  required  sacrifices,  and  settle  in  the  yoke, 
and  exert  all  the  strength  which  God  has  vouchsafed  to  them, 
in  order  to  win  souls  to  Christ,  and  carry  the  work  to  perfection. 

10.  But,  again,  it  may  be  observed  that  the  ox  knows  enough 
to  draw  in  the  dark ;  and  yet  many  Christians  will  not  draw  a 
single  pound  in  the  dark.     As  long  as  they  see  their  way  clear, 
and  feel  like  it,  they  go  along  very  well ;  but  as  soon  as  a 
cloud  comes  over  their  minds,  they  stand  as  still   as  a  stone. 
They  will  not  draw  in  the  dark,  but  the  ox  will ;  and  if  night 
overtakes  him  before  his  owner  has  reached  his  destination 
with  the  load  he  is  drawing,  the  ox  will  draw  as  well  as  if  it 
was  day.     So  we,  as  Christians,  ought  to  work  for  God,  trust- 
ing in  him,  and  moving  right  on  in  the  performance  of  every 
Christian  duty. 

11.  So,  again,  it  maybe  remarked  the  ox  knows  were  to  find 
water.     You  turn  an  ox  or  an  ass  into  a  hundred-acre  field,  and 
if  there  be  water  in  that  field  he  will  not  suffer  from  thirst  long. 
They  are  sure  to  find  it.     They  will  not  perish  under  the  heat, 
of  a  summer's  sun  while  there  is  water  in  the  enclosure.     But 
how  many  men  there  are  who,  though  God  has  opened  a  great 
Fountain  for  Judea  and  Jerusalem,  and  hath  said,  "  If  any  man 
thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me  and  drink  ; "  and  though  the  water 
is  as  free  as  the  air,  yet  wander  about,  and  cannot  find  this  liv- 
ing stream !     There  are  sinners  who  are  thirsting  and  inquiring 
for  the  water  of  salvation  in  this  congregation  to-day,  who  act 
as  though  they  could  not  find  it.     They  go  around  in  the  dark 
hours  of  the  night,  in  their  secret  chamber ;  they  come  to  the 
meetings,  and  converse  with  one  and  another  ;  but  after  all  that 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  269 

is  said  and  done,  they  fail  to  find  this  Fountain  of  living  waters  ; 
they  fail  to  slake  their  thirst,  and  cure  the  fever  of  the  mind. 

The  ox,  if  you  cut  a  hole  in  the  ice,  will  almost  tumble  in,  if 
it  is  necessary,  to  reach  the  water ;  and  he  will  reach  it  and 
slake  his  thirst,  if  it  is  possible,  before  he  leave  the  place.  The 
difficulty  with  the  sinner  is,  he  is  looking  too  high,  and  he 
stumbles  over  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
fails  to  be  lowly  enough  to  have  his  wants  supplied. 

The  truth  is,  my  friends,  the  difficulty  lies  in  the  want  of 
disposition  on  your  part  —  it  is  not  a  want  of  sagacity.  You 
certainly  know  as  much  as  the  ox  or  the  ass,  but  your  heart  is 
in  opposition  to  God  and  to  religion,  and  you  are  unwilling  to 
come  to  God's  terms,  and  receive  the  waters  of  life.  Here, 
then,  is  the  grand  difficulty.  You  have  seen  swine  break  into 
a  garden,  and  if  you  try  to  drive  them  out,  and  set  the  dog  ou 
them,  they  will  run  round  and  round,  and  by  the  place  they 
came  in,  as  though  they  could  not  see  it ;  but  get  them  out 
once,  and  the  moment  they  want  to  come  back  they  will  make 
a  bee-line  for  the  place.  I  have  many  a  time  taken  a  sinner, 
and  have  shown  him  the  way  to  God ;  have  resolved  all  his 
doubts,  and  made  the  way  as  plain  as  the  alphabet ;  but  when 
I  would  bring  him  to  the  point,  and,  with  God's  help,  try  to 
drive  him  through,  he  would  pass  by  as  quick  as  thought. 
They  do  not  wish  to  go  to  heaven.  They  do  not  wish  to  come 
down  to  the  feet  of  Jesus,  and  slake  the  thirst  of  their  souls  in 
the  waters  of  eternal  life. 

12.  Then,  again,  we  find  that  the  ox  knows  enough  to  pray. 
When  he  is  in  want,  when  he  has  been  fasting  all  night,  and 
the  manger  or  crib  is  empty,  —  when  the  owner  walks  into  the 
yard  in  the  morning  all  the  live  stock  are  up,  and  all  begin  to 
pray :  the  ox  begins  to  loo,  the  horse  to  whinny,  and  the  sheep 
to  bleat ;  they  all  pray,  and  pray  in  their  own  native  language. 
There  is  no  restraint.  The  ass  does  not  say,  "  If  I  only  had  as 
smooth  a  voice  as  some  animals  I  would  pray  to  my  owner,  and 
ask  him  for  what  I  want ;  but  I  have  such  a  hoarse,  uncouth 
voice,  that  if  I  should  pray  I  would  frighten  the  sheep  out  of 


270  SERMONS  BY 

the  yard."  Each  one  has  his  own  way  of  expressing  his  wants, 
and  cares  not  for  the  opinions  of  others.  And  their  owner  un- 
derstands them,  and  supplies  their  wants.  If  the  sinner  would 
lift  up  his  voice,  and  cry,  "  Lord  save  me,  or  I  perish  !  "  if  the 
backslider  would  cry  unto  the  Lord,  and  every  human  soul 
would  cry  aloud  in  sincerity,  God  would  open  the  windows  of 
heaven,  and  pour  out  his  blessings  upon  them.  It  is  pride  which 
dooms  millions  of  souls.  They  will  not  pray  to  God  because 
they  fear  man  more  than  they  fear  their  Creator. 

13.  Then,  again,  it  maybe  observed  the  ox  and  the  ass  know 
their  respective  and  appropriate  places.  The  term  rendered 
"crib"  here,  means  stall  —  the  place  where  he  is  cribbed,  or  the 
stall  where  he  belongs.  Every  good  farmer  will  have  a  particu- 
lar stall  for  each  animal,  and  each  animal  soon  comes  to  know 
its  place,  and  always  occupies  it.  I  remember  more  than  thirty 
years  ago,  when  I  was  preaching  in  this  city,  that  I  was  invited 
to  go  out  to  Long  Island,  and  lecture  one  evening  in  the  village 
of  Newtown.  I  passed  the  night  with  a  gentleman  who  kept 
one  hundred  cows,  and  brought  milk  to  the  city.  In  order  to 
have  the  milk  ready  in  season,  the  men  brought  the  cows  up  to 
the  stable  in  the  afternoon.  I  noticed  that  each  cow  knew  its 
particular  stall,  and  went  right  along  until  it  came  to  it,  and 
then  turned  into  it.  I  looked  on  with  amazement,  and  thought, 
if  I  could  find  a  church  where  all  the  members  knew  their 
places,  and  kept  them  like  these  cows,  I  would  like  to  be  its 
pastor.  But,  alas  !  "  the  ox  knoweth  his  owner,  and  the  ass 
his  master's  crib :  but  Israel  doth  not  know  ;  my  people  doth 
not  consider."  They  get  into  the  wrong  stalls  ;  one  member 
gets  into  his  neighbor's  stall,  and  they  commence  hooking, 
goring,  and  crowding  one  another.  Very  often  a  long-horned 
deacon  gets  into  the  minister's  stall,  and  commences  goring 
him ;  others  get  into  the  deacons'  stalls,  and  all  is  clashing  and 
confusion ;  and  God  may  well  say,  "  The  ox  knoweth  his 
owner,  and  the  ass  his  master's  crib  :  but  Israel  doth  not  know ; 
my  people  doth  not  consider."  Alas !  some  church-members 
eeem  to  think  that  all  the  minister  must  do  is  simply  to  preach 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP  271 

to  please  the  people.  He  must  have  no  voice  in  the  business 
of  the  church,  no  voice  in  its  government,  and  no  voice  or 
control  in  its  affairs  ;  and  that  when  he  does  not  please  the  con- 
gregation they  may  set  him  adrift.  Now  this  is  subversive  of 
the  whole  arrangement  of  the  church  of  God.  The  minister  is 
his  overseer.  He  is  placed,  in  the  providence  of  God,  at  the  head 
of  the  church,  and  he  is  to  rule  over  its  affairs  with  all  the 
influence  that  God's  grace  shall  secure  to  him.  The  congrega- 
tion ought  to  honor  him,  and  rejoice,  and  feel  blessed  if  their 
leader  is  capable  of  leading  them  on  from  strength  to  strength, 
and  building  them  up  in  the  faith  of  our  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus 
Christ.  But,  alas,  the  confusion  that  follows  their  not  knowing 
their  places,  and  keeping  their  places  !  and  this  arises  from  the 
depravity  of  poor  fallen  human  nature.  God  may  well  say, 
*'  The  ox  knoweth  his  owner,  and  the  ass  his  master's  crib  : 
but  Israel  doth  not  know  ;  my  people  doth  not  consider." 
May  God  add  his  blessing,  for  his  Son's  sake.  Amen. 


272  SERMONS  BY 


II 

ENTHUSIASM. 

*'  Thou  art  beside  thyself;  much  learning  doth  make  thee  mad" 
ACTS  xxvi.  24. 

I  PROPOSE,  on  this  occasion,  I.  To  prove  that  all  con- 
sistent Bible  Christians  have,  in  all  ages,  been  looked  upon 
by  unbelievers  and  formalists  as  "  beside  "  themselves,  enthusi- 
asts, or  possessed  of  the  devil. 

Paul  was  speaking  forth  "  the  words  of  truth  and  soberness," 
when  Festus  cried  out,  "Paul,  thou  art  beside  thyself;  much 
learning  doth  make  thee  mad." 

On  the  day  of  Pentecost  a  similar  charge  was  preferred 
against  the  apostles.  In  fact  they  "  were  filled  with  the  Spirit," 
but  they  were  accused  of  being  "  filled  with  new  wine." 

The  Pharisees  said,  concerning  Christ,  that  "he  hath  a 
devil." 

In  like  manner  were  the  ancient  prophets  regarded ;  and 
from  the  days  of  the  apostles  to  the  present,  men  of  earnest 
conviction,  undoubting  faith,  and  fearless  courage,  have  been 
denounced,  in  their  own  generations,  as  madmen,  fanatics, 
and  fools. 

The  reasons  are  obvious.  To  true  Christians  religion  is  a 
living  reality.  Its  truths  are  ever  before  them.  They  believe 
all  that  God  has  said  about  heaven  and  hell ;  all  things  else  are 
as  trifles,  compared  with  the  solemn  realities  of  eternity.  They 
regulate  the  affairs  of  time,  its  prospects  and  its  pleasures,  and 
personal  gratifications,  according  to  the  demands  of  this  profound 
conviction.  With  them  time,  talents,  honors,  pleasures,  money, 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  273 

life  itself,  are  nothing  in  comparison  with  the  worth  of  the  soul, 
or  with  the  sufferings  of  Christ  in  dying  to  save  it. 

The  dead  formalist,  the  careless  unbeliever,  behold  their 
enthusiasm  with  feelings  of  contempt.  They  see  no  occasion 
for  it,  and  account  for  it  on  the  theory  of  mental  delusion,  or, 
perchance,  of  hypocritical  pretension.  Alas  !  their  vision  is  dim. 
The  god  of  this  world  hath  blinded  their  minds,  so  that  "  having 
eyes  they  see  not."  They  do  not  realize  any  necessity  for  strong 
feelings,  for  zeal  and  energy  in  prosecuting  the  cause  of  salvation, 
and  so  they  cry  out,  "Animal  excitement  I  "  "Enthusiasm!" 

The  different  views  which  these  two  classes  take  of  this  sub- 
ject may  be  illustrated  by  the  following  circumstance :  A 
clergyman,  riding  along  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  saw  a  woman  coming  out  of  her  house  in  great 
haste,  and  screaming,  with  the  air  and  tone  of  the  wildest  ex- 
citement, "  Help,  help  !  "  Rushing  on  to  the  bank  of  a  river, 
she  leaped  into  the  stream,  and  sank  out  of  sight.  The  minister 
put  spurs  to  his  horse,  and  hastened  to  the  spot,  thinking  that 
she  was  surely  insane ;  but  as  he  reached  the  bank,  he  beheld 
the  woman  rising  to  the  surface,  and  grasping  the  form  of  her 
little  boy,  who  had  fallen  into  the  water  a  few  minutes  before. 
At  once  the  clergyman  changed  his  mind.  Instead  of  regarding 
her  as  mad,  he  lookt  ,  upon  her  as  very  rational  and  heroic, 
and  considered  her  exr'temont  as  a  fitting  expression  of  a  just 
estimate  of  the  importance  of  the  occasion.  Just  so  formal- 
ists, hypocrites,  and  worldlings.  They  do  not  aj^reciate  the 
great  motive-power  by  which  the  spiritually  living  Christian  is 
prompted.  "  He  *hat  is  spiritual  judgeth  all  things,  but  he 
himself  is  judged  of  no  man."  Hence  the  "carnal"  think  of 
the  "spiritual"  that  their  ze'»l,  their  earnestness,  their  haste, 
their  sacrifices  for  the  salvatioa  of  souls,  is  a  sort  of  madness, 
tin  uncalled-for  excitement. 

What  could  an  unbelieving  world  have  thought  of  Noah, 
who  was  spending  a  fortune,  toiling  night  and  day,  in  building 
an  ark  for  the  salvation  of  himself  and  his  family,  in  the  day 
when  floods  should  overwhelm  the  earth?  His  neighbors  had 


274  SERMONS  BY 

no  faith  in  the  testimony  of  God  concerning  the  threatened  vis- 
itation. Suppose  a  traveller  coming  along  where  the  ark  wag 
being  constructed,  at  a  time  when  it  was  nearly  completed ; 
pulling  up  at  the  inn,  he  asks  the  keeper,  "  What  is  that  great 
structure  I  saw  up  the  road  ?  It  is  so  huge  that  no  team  can 
draw  it,  and  no  water  can  float  it?" 

Innkeeper.     "  Why,  that  is  an  ark." 

Traveller.     "  An  ark  ?    What  is  that  for  ?  " 

Innkeeper.  "  Well,  an  old  man,  by  the  name  of  iNoah,  in 
this  neighborhood,  has  a  notion  in  his  head  that  the  great  God 
is  going  to  drown  the  world,  and  he  is  building  this  ark  for  the 
preservation  of  his  family  and  a  pair  of  every  kind  of  animal." 

Traveller.  "  Is  this  man  a  fool,  or  is  he  crazy,  or  a  hypo- 
crite?" 

Innkeeper.  "Well,  there  are  different  opinions  about  him. 
Some  think  him  crazy ;  others  say  he  is  a  downright  hypocrite, 
desirous  of  making  a  stir  in  the  world.  Others  surmise  that  he 
has  some  great  speculation  in  view  ;  but  most  people  give  him 
the  credit  of  being  sincere,  but  laboring  under  a  delusion.  He 
certainly  warns  the  people  of  the  approaching  flood,  sometimes 
with  tears ;  and  I  know  that  he  has  expended  a  fortune  in  the 
enterprise,  and  is  up  early  and  late." 

The  people  in  the  day  of  Paul  doubtless  talked  about  him  in 
the  same  way.  We  can  imagine  how  some  of  his  old  associates 
spoke  of  him.  One  said,  "  I  really  thought  that  Paul  would 
amount  to  something."  Another  remarked,  "  He  might  have 
been  somebody  if  he  had  not  got  excited  about  these  miserable 
followers  of  the  Nazarene."  "  Yes,"  said  another,  "  he  might 
have  occupied  a  high  place  among  both  the  Jews  and  the  Ro- 
mans, and  commanded  a  high  salary,  and  been  one  of  the  first 
men  of  his  age,  but  he  has  completely  thrown  himself  away  by 
joining  this  illiterate  set  of  fishermen.  He  has  made  a  fool  of 
himself."  But  how  little  did  they  know  of  the  weighty  con- 
siderations and  mighty  power  that  were  actuating  him  !  How 
little  they  realized  the  unseen  influences  that  were  inspiring  the 
apostle  Paul  to  count  all  things  as  loss  and  dross  for  the  excel- 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  275 

leucy  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord !  And  how 
little  do  they,  who  are  enveloped  iu  the  atmosphere  of  worldly 
honors,  ease,  and  emolument,  know  the  motives  by  which  those 
are  actuated  who  lay  their  all  on  God's  altar  !  "  We  are  to  look 
not  on  the  things  that  are  seen,  but  on  the  things  which  are  not 
seen  ;  for  the  things  which  are  seen  are  temporal,  but  the  things 
•which  are  not  seen  are  eternal." 

Before  we  proceed  further,  it  must  be  understood  that  souls 
are  saved  by  a  faithful  use  of  the  means  which  God  has  ap- 
pointed to  that  end,  and  lost  for  the  want  of  such  a  use  of  the 
means ;  just  as  our  natural  lives  are  maintained  by  a  timely 
attention  to  the  means  of  self-preservation,  and  are  lost  for  the 
lack  of  that  attention.  Parents  have  no  more  reason  to  expect 
that  their  children  will  be  saved,  if  the  means  which  God  has 
appointed  to  that  end  are  neglected,  than  they  have  a  right  to 
suppose  that  they  will  be  fed,  and  clothed,  and  educated,  unless 
the  means  appropriate  and  necessary  to  these  results  are  duly 
observed. 

Now  it  is  easy  to  see  in  which  matter  we  ought  to  feel  the 
greater  concern,  and  by  which  consideration  we  ought  to  be 
the  more  excited.  The  necessities  of  the  soul  are  as  much 
greater  than  those  of  the  body  as  eternity  is  longer  than  time, 
or  as  the  soul  itself  is  of  more  value  than  the  body. 

II.  But  let  us  define  Enthusiasm.  I  use  the  term  in  its  most 
popular  acceptation.  In  this  sense  it  stands  opposed  to  the  idea 
of  consistency  or  propriety..  An  enthusiast  is  one  who  exhibits 
more  interest  in  a  subject  than  its  importance  demands  ;  whereas 
a  sober-minded  man  is  supposed  to  display  no  greater  interest 
in  a  subject  than  is  in  proportion  to  the  value  of  the  end  in  view. 
To  illustrate :  Suppose,  as  you  are  riding  along  on  horseback, 
a  woman  comes  rushing  out  of  her  house,  and  with  the  aspect 
of  horror  and  agdby,  and  in  tones  of  piteous  anxiety  she  calls 
on  you  for  help,  immediate  help.  Her  boy  has  fallen  into  the 
well  and  will  drown.  You  leap  from  your  horse  and  hasten 
to  the  rescue.  All  right.  You  pass  on,  and  befgre  long  an- 
other woman  comes  rushing  out  of  her  house  in  the  same  plight, 


276  SERMONS   BY 

crying,  "  Help  !  help  !  "  You  ask  yourself,  "  What  in  the 
world  is  the  matter  now?"  You  put  spurs  and  whip  to  the 
horse,  and  riding  up  to  the  gate,  spring  from  your  horse,  and 
inquire  the  cause  of  this  great  alarm,  and  she  explains,  "  Why, 
sir,  I  came  to  draw  water,  and  dropped  my  pitcher,  and  broke 
it  all  to  pieces  ! "  You  feel  provoked  enough  to  apply  the  whip 
to  her.  And  why  so  ?  Because  iu  this  case  the  woman  was  au 
enthusiast,  and  in  the  other  case  the  woman  acted  consistently ; 
and  yet  they  both,  in  deportment,  acted  alike.  In  the  one  case, 
however,  the  occasion  demanded  or  justified  the  excitement ; 
in  the  other,  it  did  not. 

Now  let  us  contrast  the  interest  which  men  feel  in  the  sacri- 
fices which  they  put  forth  to  save  souls,  with  the  interest  which 
they  manifest,  and  the  efforts  which  they  make,  to  secure 
worldly  ends. 

1.  Notice  the  efforts  of  men  to  accumulate  wealth.  They 
rise  early,  sit  up  late,  toil  hard,  encounter  all  ihe  perils  of  the 
deep,  expose  themselves  to  all  the  miasmas  and  epidemics  of 
every  clime.  They  will  leave  home  and  loved  ones,  and  rush 
on  to  California,  or  into  the  wilderness  of  "the  oil  regions ;  ex- 
pend millions  of  money  as  an  experiment,  in  the  hope  of  obtain- 
ing more,  and  often  sink  all  they  have  ;  and  yet  all  these  won- 
derful expressions  of  anxiety  excite  no  complaints  on  their  part, 
because  they  see  an  object  in  view. 

But  let  ministers  and  Christians  open  their  eyes  upon  the 
condition  of  millions  of  human  souls  ready  to  perish,  liable 
every  moment  to  come  short  of  that  "  rest  which  remains  for 
the  people  of  God  ;  "  to  fail  of  durable  riches  and  righteousness  ; 
let  them  see  them  standing  "  on  slippery  places,  while  fiery 
billows  roll  below,"  and  feel  and  act  accordingly ;  let  them 
"  cry  aloud  and  spare  not ;  "  lift  up  their  voice  like  Paul,  or 
Luther,  or  Whitefield ;  lay  their  money  upon  God's  altar,  and 
be  in  earnest  to  save  souls,  —  and  the  cry  is  heard,  "Thou  art 
be'  ide  thyself :  much  learning,  or  much  religion,  doth  make 
thee  mad !  "  The  cry  of  "  Animal  feeling,"  "  Enthusiasm," 
resounds  through  the  air. 


ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  277 

2.  Notice  tl.3  interest  manifested  in  politics.      Our  country 
is  divided  into  two  standing  political  parties,  and  sometimes  a 
third  party  comes   up.       Each  party   has   its   regular  sets  of 
candidates  for  office,  and  each  is  over-anxious  to  succeed,  and, 
as  election   draws  near  the   anxiety  increases  ;   and  yet,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  there  may  be  little  or  no  choice  in  the  candidates. 
Both  may  be  good  men,  or  more  likely  neither  of  them  fit  for 
the    statiop.       But   the    whole    country  is    moved :    a    mighty 
moral  earthquake  convulses  the  whole  land.     Men,  women,  and 
children  are  all  excited,  from  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  to  the 
shores  of  the  Pacific.     Millions  of  money  are  paid  out  to  publish 
and  disseminate  partisan  documents.     Hundreds  of  thousands 
of  dollars  are  staked  on  the  results  of  the  election.     Log-cabins 
and  liberty-poles  are  erected,  and  flags  are  flung  to  every  breeze. 
Farmers,   mechanics,  merchants,  doctors,  lawyers,  and  some- 
times ministers,  all  join  in  one  universal  chorus.     And  when 
the  contest  is  ended,  and  one  party  has  come  out  victorious,  a 
mighty  shout  is  heard  throughout  the  whole  United  States  of 
America ;    the  telegraph  wires  are  all   electrified ;    balls  and 
parties  are  multiplied,   and  the    booming  cannon  roars  along 
through  the  valleys,  and  comes  thundering  over  all  the  moun- 
tains.    Millions  more  of  money  are  expended  in  parades  and 
festivals  ;  but  all  this  is  well  in  the  eyes  of  the  world.     Formal- 
ists, hypocrites,  and  worldlings  have  nothing  to  say  against  ex- 
citement or  animal  feeling. 

But  let  there  be  a  contest  between  the  friends  and  the  enemies 
of  Jesus  about  the  coming  of  Jesus  into  every  heart,  and  through 
all  the  world,  and  the  dethroning  of  Satan  ;  and  let  them  mani- 
fest half  the  zeal,  expend  half  the  money,  make  half  the  sacri- 
fices, to  accomplish  this  end,  and  all  these  unbelievers  will  cry 
out,  "  Enthusiasm  !  "  "  Wild-fire  I "  "Animal  feeling  I  "  "  Thou 
art  beside  thyself:  much  religion  doth  make  thee  mad." 

3.  Notice  the  interest  excited  on  account  of  bodily  sickness. 
Let  any  member  of  the  family  be  taken  sick.     How  soon  the  doc- 
tor is  called  !    The  messenger  is  sent  in  post  haste,  by  day  or  by 
night,  and  at  any  or  all  hours.     No  one  talks  about  late  hours, 


278  SERMONS    BY 

or  of  being  disturbed  of  their  rest.  The  wife  or  mother  bends 
over  the  sick  bed  for  days  and  weeks  together ;  scarcely  lays 
aside  her  garments  for  months ;  and  if  the  loved  one  is  taken 
away,  all  the  family  are  bathed  in  tears ;  the  neighbors  all 
come  in  to  weep  with  them,  and  on  the  funeral  occasion  all  the 
congregation  are  proud  to  weep.  But  if  we  see  the  great  mass 
of  sinners  on  the  brink  of  ruin,  dying  the  death  that  never  dies, 
and  cast  our  eyes  towards  Calvary  and  see  Jesus  bleeding, 
extending  his  arms  towards  them,  and  hear  him  saying,  "  Look 
unto  me,  all  ye  en.ds  of  the  earth,  and  be  ye  saved,"  and  ex- 
claim, with  good  old  Jeremiah,  "  O,  that  my  head  were  waters, 
and  mine  eyes  a  fountain  of  tears,  that  I  might  weep  day  and 
night,  for  the  slain  of  the  daughter  of  my  people,"  the  whole 
infidel  world  chimes  in  with  those  who  "  are  at  ease  in  Zion," 
crying  out,  "  Animal  feeling  I  "  "Excitement  !  "  "  Thou  art  lie- 
side  thyself" 

4.  Look  at  the  money  expended,  and  the  interest  taken  upon 
the  subject  of  education.     Think  of  all  the  schools  of  every  kind, 
from  the  infant  school  up  to  the  college  :  district,  private,  family 
schools,  academies,  seminaries,  all  in  full  blast  the  year  round, 
and  the  mass  of  the  rising  generation  spending  from  twelve  to 
twenty  years  in  attaining  mental  culture.     Many  study  half  of 
the  night,  and  some  all  of  it,  and  in  many  instances  break 
down  their  healths,  and  come  to  a  premature  grave.      But  no 
Universalist,  no  Unitarian,  no  infidel,  no  formalist,  complains 
of  all  this  expense  of  time,  money,  health,  and  life.     All  think 
they  see  an  end  to  justify  it.     But  when  a  school  is  opened  in 
which  to  educate  men  for  heaven,  and  lectures,  prayers,  ex- 
postulations, and  appeals   are   multiplied,  and  the  servants  of 
God  become  more  and  more  earnest  in  the  matter,  the  worldling, 
the  formalist,  the  infidel,  and  the  devil,  all  cry  out,  "  Thou  art 
beside  thyself:   much  religion  doth  make  thee  mad." 

5.  Let  a  fire  break  out  in  a  city.     The  bells  are  rung,  the 
engines  rattle  and  thunder  along  the  streets,  and  the  cry  of 
Fire  !  Fire  !  Fire  !  is  shouted  from  street  to  street.    Men,  women, 
and  children  turn  out  at  a  late  hour  of  the  night,  and  rush  to 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  279 

the  scene.  And  what,  after  all,  is  the  matter?  An  old  black- 
smith shop  is  on  fire  !  And  yet  no  one  goes  round  picking  up 
the  evils  of  this  general  turn  out,  complaining  of  being  out  at  a 
late  hour  in  the  night,  and  that  such  a  one  got  run  over  and 
badly  injured,  and  such  a  one  got  wet  through  and  through  by 
the  carelessness  of  the  firemen,  and  another  lost'  his  life  in  the 
burning  building. 

But  when  God's  watchmen  discover  that  the  fire  of  God's 
wrath  is  kindled,  and  that  it  burns  to  the  lowest  hell,  and  call 
on  all  "  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,"  to.  turn  to  the  strong- 
hold until  his  indignation  be  over,  they  are  charged  with 
enthusiasm  ;  with  being  unduly  excited. 

Suppose  a  man  is  sinking  a  well.  After  getting  forty  feet 
below  the  surface  of  the  ground  the  sides  cave  in,  and  he  is 
buried  beneath  the  fallen  earth  ;  but,  by  means  of  some  timbers, 
air  enough  reaches  him  to  keep  the  breath  of  life  in  him  for  a 
time,  and  by  putting  your  ear  at  the  mouth  of  the  cave  you  can 
just  faintly  hear  him  cry,  "  Help !  Save  !  For  God's  sake, 
save !  "  But  while  some  hasten  on  with  spades  and  shovels, 
some  throwing  the  dirt  one  way  and  some  another,  all  working 
on  without  regard  to  rules  of  propriety  in  the  handling  of  their 
shovels,  suppose  a  set  of  lookers-on  should  gather  around,  stand 
aloof,  and  find  fault,  saying,  "  This  man  throws  his  dirt  very 
carelessly ;  that  man  ought  not  to  take  off  his  coat,  he  will  get 
cold ;  it  is  now  after  nine  o'clock,  and  they  ought  to  go  home  ; 
'  too  much  excitement ; '  "  what  would  you  think  of  these  cool- 
blooded  croakers?  If  the  man  buried  alive  was  your  son, 
brother,  or  husband,  you  would  denounce  them  as  heartless, 
inhuman,  murderous  wretches. 

6.  Let  our  country  be  invaded,  our  liberties  threatened,  and 
our  government  in  danger  of  being  overthrown.  See,  then, 
what  an  excitement !  As  in  the  case  of  the  Revolutionary 
struggle,  or  as  during  the  recent  Rebellion.  In  such  events, 
our  husbands,  brothers,  and  sons  turn  out  by  the  million.  Our' 
treasures  are  poui-ed  out  like  water,  and  our  blood  flows  like 
rivers.  No  sacrifices  are  too  great  to  make,  no  suffering  too 


280  SERMONS  BY 

intolerable  to  be  endured.  All  this  is  patriotism !  But  when 
we  proclaim  to  the  world  that  Satan  has  rebelled  against  the 
government  of  God,  and  has  involved  this  world  in  the  conflict, 
and  that  the  struggle  is  now  going  on,  and  that  infinite  conse- 
quences depend  on  the  issue,  even  the  eternal  destiny  of  millions 
for  weal  or  for  woe,  and  we  bestir  ourselves  accordingly,  call- 
ing for  men,  for  treasures,  on  all  to  pray,  to  labor,  and  to  come 
up  to  the  "  help  of  the  Lord,  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the 
mighty,"  the  world  thinks  we  are  distracted,  and  cries  out, 
"  Thou  art  beside  thyself!" 

III.  We  proceed  to  show  that  the  deepest  interest  we  can 
feel,  the  greatest  sacrifices  we  can  make,  and  the  most  mighty 
efforts  we  can  put  forth  to  glorify  Christ,  and  to  save  souls,  are 
consistent  and  proper. 

1.  There  is  no  caution  in  the  word  of  God  against  feeling 
too  much,  or  giving  too  much,  or  doing  too  much.     But,  on  the 
other  hand,  God  is,  and  always  has  been,  urging  his  people  to 
bring  "  their  tithes  into  the  store-house  ;  "  to   "  pray  without 
ceasing  ;  "  to  "  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  his  righteous- 
ness ; "  to  go  into  his  vineyard  and  work.     Jeisus  says,  "  jjfo 
man  hath  left  father  or  mother,  brother  or  sister,  husband  or 
wife,  houses  or  lands,  for  my  sake  and  the  gospel's,  but  he  shall 
receive  an  hundred  fold  in  this  present  time,  and  in  the  world 
to  come  life  everlasting." 

2.  Jesus  always  defends  those  who  do  and  feel  the  most  for 
his  cause,  and  rebukes  those  who  complain  of  them.     When  the 
woman  came  to  anoint  him  against  his  burial,  and  broke  the 
box  of  precious  ointment  and  poured  it  on  his  head,  a  heartless 
Judas   charged  her  of  waste,  of  undue  excitement.     But  the 
Savior  replied,  "  Let  her  alone.     The  poor  ye  have  always  with 
you.  and  ye  may  do  them  good  when  ye  will,  but  me  ye  have 
not  always  ; "  and  adds,  "  Wherever  this  gospel  is  preached, 
this  shall  be  told  as  a  memorial  of  her."     A  monument  has 
thus  been  erected  to  her  memory  more  durable  than  any  of  the 
monuments  of  Greece  or  Rome.     The  formalist,  the  unbeliever, 
thinks  all  that  is  done  to  honor  Christ,  and  to  save  souls,  is  a 
perfect  waste. 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  281 

When  Jesus  was  riding  on  his  way  to  Jerusalem,  a  holy 
enthusiasm  came  over  his  d  sciples,  and  the  whole  multitude  of 
them  broke  out,  crying  with  loud  voices,  and  began  to  rejoice 
and  praise  God  for  all  the  mighty  works  which  they  had  seen, 
saying,  "  Blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord." 
But  some  in  the  multitude  said,  "  Master,  rebuke  thy  disciples  " 
(those  formalists  thought  them  unduly  excited)  ;  but  Jesus 
replied,  "  I  tell  you,  if  these  should  hold  their  peace,  the  stones 
would  cry  out." 

When  the  poor  widow  cast  her  two  mites,  even  all  her  living, 
into  the  treasury  of  the  Lord,  the  formalist  and  the  unbeliever 
thought  her  enthusiastic  and  extravagant ;  that  it  was  her  duty 
to  save  it  for  sickness  and  old  age.  But  Jesus  defends  and  ap- 
plauds her,  and  declares  that  she  had  cast  in  more  than  all  the 
rich,  who  of  their  abundance  had  cast  into  the  treasury  of  the 
Lord,  for  she  had  of  her  penury  cast  in  all  of  her  living.  Here 
is  a  monument  erected  to  her  memory.  And  whilst  the  for- 
malist, the  hypocrite,  and  the  worldling  complain  of  excite- 
ment, and  of  undue  anxiety  on  the  subject  of  religion,  Jesus 
stands  and  weeps  over  Jerusalem,  exclaiming,  "O  Jerusalem, 
Jerusalem,  how  often  would  I  have  gathered  your  children  to- 
gather  as  a  hen  doth  gather  her  chickens  under  her  wings,  and 
ye  would  not."  The  big  tears  rolled  down  the  manly  cheeks 
of  the  Son  of  God.  His  great  soul  was  stirred  to  its  depths  by 
the  madness  and  folly  of  that  city  in  turning  their  backs  upon, 
and  rejecting  their  best  friend,  and  their  only  Savior. 

Paul  felt  his  spirit  stirred  within  him  when  he  saw  a  city 
"  wholly  given  to  idolatry." 

Jeremiah  cried  out,  "  O,  that  my  head  were  waters,  and  mine 
eyes  a  fountain  of  tears,  that  I  might  weep  day  and  night  for 
the  slain  of  the  daughter  of  my  people."  And  again  :  "  Rivers 
of  waters  run  down  mine  eyes  because  they  keep  not  thy  law." 

God   complains  of  these   hypocrites    in  Zion  because  they 

"  eat  the  calves  from  the  stall,  and  the  lambs  from  the  flock,  and 

drink  wine  from  golden  bowls,  and  stretch  themselves  upon 

beds  of  ivory,  and  are  not  grieved  fo    the  afflictions  of  Joseph." 

20 


282  SERMONS   BY 

• 

3.  No  one  regrets,  at  the  hour  of  death,  that  he  had  felt 
too  much,  given  too  much,  or  done  too  much  for  Christ,  or  to 
save  souls.     Such  a  regret  was  never  felt  by  a  sane  man.     It 
never  fell  from  human  lips.     It  was  never  written  in  a  book  : 
moreover  it  never  will  be.     All  the  regrets  are  on  the  other 
side.       How  many,   on    their   death-bed,   have    expressed   the 
deepest  regret  that  they  had  done  no  more  for  the  honor  of 
Christ,  and  to  benefit  their  race ;  to  reclaim  this  fallen  world, 
and  to  bring  rebellious  man  back  to  God  !     How  many  have 
been  burdened  with  the  one  desire  to  live  their  lives  over  again, 
in  order  that  they  might  correct  their  mistakes  in  these  respects  ; 
devote  themselves  to  the  service  of  God  with  the  zeal  that  fired 
the  hearts  of  prophets  and  apostles,  and  of  the  hosts  of  good  men 
who  counted  not  their  lives  dear  unto  them  ! 

4.  The  consciences  of  wicked  men  justify  the  exercise  of  the 
most  intense  interest  on  the  subject  of  religion.     During  White- 
field's   absence  in  this  country,   a  graceless   bishop   called  on 
Lady  Huntington  for  the  purpose  of  remonstrating  with  her 
because  of  her  enthusiasm.     She  had  expressed  her  dissatisfac- 
tion  with  his  cool,    heartless,    and  perfunctory   performances, 
and  he  hoped  to  dispel  her  prejudices,  and  reconcile  her  to  the 
proprieties  of  the  service  of  the  Church  of  England.     Finding 
his  efforts  to  be  vain,  he  began  to  upbraid  himself  for  having 
lain  ordaining  hands  on  the  head  of  Whitefield.     Lady  Hun- 
tington replied,  "  Reverend  and  dear  sir,  permit  me  to  say,  that 
when  you  come  to  your  death-bed,  the  remembrance  of  your  part 
in  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Whitefield  will  be  the  occasion  of  your 
least  regrets."     The  prediction  was  fulfilled  ;  for  when  brought 
to  the  bed  of  death  he  sent  his  servant  to  Whitefield  to  ask  his 
prayers  for  the  dying  bishop. 

While  I  was  in  Boston,  in  the  year  1842,  laboring  day  and 
night,  and  exerting  every  energy  of  body  and  mind"  to  save 
souls,  a  Universalist  came  from  Salem  to  hear  me  preach,  and 
remained  for  a  few  days  in  attendance  on  the  meetings.  He 
went  home  and  told  his  friends  that  "  Knapp  was  the  only 
consistent  '  hell-and-damnation  '  preacher  he  knew  of." 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  283 

• 

A  Universalist  minister  in  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  when  I  was  labor- 
ing there,  said  he  "  did  not  blame  Mr.  Knapp  for  his  course  ; 
that  if  he  believed  as  Mr.  Kuapp  does,  he  would  leave  his 
family,  and  go  forth  preaching  day  and  night,  from  place  to 
place,  until  his  voice  faltered  in  death." 

Thousands  of  unconverted  persons  are  amazed  at  the  stoical 
indifference  of- professed  Christians.  They  know  that  if  religion 
is  anything  it  is  everything. 

5.  Who  can  doubt  but  that  the  millions  of  the  departed  dead 
look  down  with  astonishment  at  the  comparative  indifference  of 
the  Christian  world  concerning  the  subject  of  religion?  The 
waves  of  worldly  cares,  business,  and  pleasures  of  every  kind, 
are  sweeping  the  teeming  millions  of  earth  into  eternity.  Soon 
they  are  forgotten.  Some  look  back  from  heaven,  some  from 
hell ;  and  the  latter  mingle,  with  the  wails  of  despair,  the  re- 
proachful lamentation,  "  No  man  cared  for  our  souls  !  "  and  the 
former  are  utterly  amazed  that  they  should  have  cared  so  little 
about  themselves  or  their  fellow-men.  From  their  point  of 
view  the  things  of  time  and  sense  dwindle  into  utter  insignifi- 
cance, and  the  great  things  of  eternity  become  all  and  in  all. 

O,  ye  slumbering  saints  !  ye  formalists  !  Rouse  ye  from  your 
lethargy.  Brave  the  ridicule  of  the  world.  Be  it  your  glory 
that  you  bear  this  reproach  :  "  Ye  are  beside  yourselves  in  your 
zeal  for  the  glory  of  God  and  salvation  of  men." 


284  SEBMONS  BY 


III.* 

THE  CALLS  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

"0  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  thou  that  killest  the  prophets,  and 
stonest  them  which  are  sent  unto  thee,  liow  often  would  I  have 
gathered  thy  children  together,  even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her 
chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not  ! "  —  MATT. 
xxiii.  37. 

4  • 

WE  should  all  bear  in  mind  that  Jesus  Christ,  so  far  as  his 
human  nature  is  concerned,  was  the  son  of  Abraham, 
and  was  especially  identified  with  the  Hebrews.  "  He  came 
unto  his  own,  but  his  own  received  him  not ;  but  as  many 
as  received  him,  to  them  gave  he  power  to  become  the  sons  of 
God."  Beyond  all  question  he  felt  a  very  warm  attachment 
to  that  people  ;  and  who,  I  ask,  that  is  at  all  familiar  with  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  with  the  history  of  the 
Jews  as  a  people,  does  not  feel  an  overwhelming  interest  in  their 
condition  and  final  destiny? 

Jesus,  on  this  occasion,  was  nearing  Jerusalem,  and  from 
Mount  Olivet  looked  down  upon  the  city,  over  which  he  had  often 
wept  and  prayed,  and  upon  the  ears  of  whose  inhabitants  he 
had  often  poured  forth  volumes  of  burning  and  affectionate 
truth.  He  saw  their  destiny.  They  were  turning  their  backs 
upon  the  Savior,  their  best  friend ;  they  would  have  none  of 
him  ;  they  were  about  to  reject  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  the 
true  Redeemer.  His  omniscient  eye  ran  along  the  track  of  the 
future,  and  viewed  their  whole  history,  not  only  down  the  stream 
of  time,  but  their  prospects  beyond  the  narrow  limits  of  time. 
As  he  looked,  the  tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks,  and  he  broke 

*  Preached  in  New  York,  November  26,  18G6. 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  285 

out,  in  the  language  of  pur  text,  and  said,  "  0  Jerusalem, 
Jerusalem,  thou  that  killest  the  prophets,  and  stonest  them 
which  are  sent  unto  thee,  how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy 
children  together,  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under  her 
wings,  and  ye  would  not."  Now  here  we  see  that  Jesus  loved 
the  people.  He  bewailed  their  folly.  He  looked  back  upon 
their,  former  history,  and  he  saw  that  they  had  been  killing  the 
prophets,  and  stoning  those  who  were  sent  unto  them  ;  for  it 
had  been  death  to  any  man,  in  all  ages,  to  receive  a  commission 
from  the  great  God,  and  carry  that  commission  out  with  fidel- 
ity and  in  the  fear  of  God,  regardless  of  what  men  might  say 
or  think  of  them.  Hence  he  says,  "Thou  that  killest  the 
prophets,  and  stonest  them  which  are  sent  unto  thee,  how  often 
would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together,  as  a  hen  gathereth 
her  chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not.  Behold,  your 
house  is  left  unto  you  desolate." 

We  propose,  this  evening,  to  take  up  the  care  and  kindness 
of  Jesus  Christ  for  the  souls  of  men,  under  the  beautiful  and 
significant  figure  of  the  care  and  kindness  of  a  hen  for  her 
chickens.  A  more  striking  and  forcible  figure  could  not  be 
found  in  all  the  works  of  creation.  It  far  surpasses  and  utterly 
casts  into  the  shade  all  the  figures  drawn  from  the  stars  or  from 
history,  or  from  the  arts  and  sciences.  It  is  a  living  portrait, 
or  figure,  to  all  who  understand  it,  through  all  succeeding  ages, 
down  to  the  end  of  time. 

I.  We  remark,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  hen  hath  a  call  that 
we  denominate  a  common  call.  By  this  she  calls  to  her  brood, 
and  clucks  them  along  in  her  pathway,  and  by  it  she  pre- 
vents them  from  rambling  away  among  the  corn  and  standing 
grass,  and  from  being  lost.  Hence  she  repeats  this  call  over 
and  over  again,  from  morning  until  evening.  Scarcely  an  hour 
or  a  moment  passes  but  that  she  repeats  this  common  call  — 
calling  after  her  brood.  Hence  we  denominate  it  the  common 
call,  because  it  is  repeated  over  and  over  and  over,  again  and 
again.  And  so  Jesus  has  a  call  to  the  children  of  men,  which 
may  be  denominated  the  common  call,  "  Unto  you,  O  man,  I 
call,  and  my  voice  is  unto  the  sons  of  men." 


286  SERMONS  BY 

This  common  call  may  embrace  the  voice  of  nature.  The 
stars  are  all  calling  upon  the  children  of  men.  The  sun,  in  all 
its  splendor  and  glory,  answering  the  end  of  its  creation,  is  call- 
ing upon  the  human  family  to  reflect  that  love  which  they  are 
capable  of  reflecting,  with  as  much  fidelity  to  God  and  man  as 
it  reflects  its  natural  light. 

God  speaks  to  the  children  of  men  by  all  these,  the  work- 
manship of  his  hand,  and  continues  to  call,  not  only  day  after 
day,  but  night  after  night.  How  beautifully  the  Psalmist  speaks 
of  the  voi<je  of  nature,  when  he  says,  "  The  heavens  declare  the 
glory  of  God,  and  the  firmament  showeth  his  handy  work.  Day 
unto  day  uttereth  speech,  and  night  unto  night  showeth  knowl- 
edge. There  is  no  speech  nor  language  where  their  voice  is  not 
heard."  Mark  that.  There  is  no  people  or  tribe  under  the 
whole  heavens  who  cannot  hear  of  the  goodness  of  God  as  uttered 
by  the  voice  of  nature.  So  that  the  heathen  themselves  are  with- 
out excuse.  But  for  their  blindness  and  depravity,  their  love 
of  sin  and  waywardness,  and  opposition  to  God  and  holiness, 
they  would  hear  the  voice  of  God  through  all  the  works  of 
creation,  and  be  constrained  to  bow  down  and  worship  him. 

This  common  call  is  heard  in  everything  which  God  has  pre- 
sented to  our  consideration  as  the  workmanship  of  his  hands. 
His  voice  is  heard  in  the  roaring  of  the  distant  winds,  and  in  the 
stillness  of  the  calm  ;  in  the  rumbling  of  the  thunder,  and  in 
the  forked  lightning ;  in  the  rolling  of  the  distant  ocean,  and 
in  the  gentle  murmur  of  the  little  rill  that  flows  on  down  the 
landscape ;  —  All  call  upon  the  children  of  men  to  love  and 
serve  God,  the  Author  of  their  being,  and  to  receive  Jesus 
Christ  as  their  Savior. 

This  common  call  likewise  embraces  the  word  of  God  in  this 
Christian  land.  For  God  has  given  us  his  word  to  enlighten 
our  understanding,  and  direct  our  footsteps  through  this  vale  of 
tears  to  the  promised  land.  This  may  be  included  in  the  com- 
mon call,  because  it  is  a  common  privilege  to  the  entire  human 
family,  so  far  as  the  gospel  has  yet  been  extended.  Whether 
you  give  heed  to  the  voice  of  God,  as  it  may  be  heard  from 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  287 

his  word  or  not,  that  word  is  continually  speaking.  Awake  or 
or  asleep,  at  home  or  abroad,  the  voice  of  the  Lord  is  uttered 
and  reiterated  again  and  again.  God  is  calling  —  calling  unto 
the  children  of  men  by  his  precious  words,  that  they  may  live, 
and  not  rush  on  down,  and  perish  in  eternal  death. 

But  observe  still  further,  that  this  common  call  likewise  em- 
braces the  common  means  of  grace;  such  as  the  stated  ministry 
of  God's  holy  word,  and  such  as  the  usual  social  meetings  iu 
which  we  worship  the  living  and  the  true  God,  and  by  which 
the  children  of  men  are  invited  to  embrace  Jesus  Christ  and 
live.  In  fact,  God  has  thrown  open  the  doors  of  the  sanctuary, 
through  all  our  cities  and  through  all  our  country  towns  and 
places  ;  and  wherever  human  beings  live,  there  the  voice  of  God — 
this  common  call  —  may  'be  heard.  This  is  true,  not  only  upon 
the  Lord's  day,  but  in  many  places  on  every  single  day  and 
night  in  the  week.  As  if  it  were  not  enough  that  he  should 
call  all  day  long  upon  the  Sabbath,  but  Jesus,  by  his  care  and 
kindness,  would  follow  them  up,  and  beckon  or  call  after  them, 
and  cluck  them  along,  as  it  were,  and  keep  them  under  his 
wings,  that  they  may  not  ramble  away,  and  lose  sight  of  their 
only  Friend  and  Protector,  and  perish  forever,  for  want  of  the 
grace  and  mercy  he  is  willing  to  impart.  He  gives  the  children  of 
men  repeated  and  continued  opportunities  of  salvation.  Just 
think  of  the  faithfulness  of  God  in  this  respect !  I  have  thought 
of  it  many  a  time.  In  ranging  the  world  round  and  round,  I  have 
never  found  a  place  where  a  faithful  messenger  has  not  gone 
before  me.  Some  man  of  God,  some  messenger  of  Jesus  Christ, 
has  gone  before  me,  and  has  lifted  up  his  voice  in  Christ's  stead 
to  the  people,  beseeching  them  to  be  reconciled  to  God.  Mis- 
sionaries of  the  cross  have  climbed  the  mountains,  threaded  the 
valleys,  and  gone  among  the  highest  and  the  lowest,  among  the 
rich  and  among  the  poor.  Thus  God  is  calling  after  the  chil- 
dren of  men  day  after  day,  year  in  and  year  out.  But,  after 
all,  Jesus  may  say  to  you,  "  How  often  would  I  have  gathered 
thy  children  together,  even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens 
under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not  I  " 


288  SERMONS  BY 

II.  But  the  hen  has  another  call,  which  we  denominate  the 
the  special  call.  It  is  only  given  when  she  has  found  some  food 
or  drink  which  her  brood  needs,  and  invites  them  to  participate 
in  the  provision  she  has  made  for  their  wants.  She  then  changes 
her  dialect,  and  speaks  in  another  language.  They  all  under- 
stand the  language,  every  one  of  them,  before  they  are  twenty- 
four  hours  old,  and  they  come  running  in  from  every  direction, 
in  obedience  to  this  special  call,  and  receive  the  food  to  which 
they  are  invited.  They  do  not  stand  back  and  parley,  as  sin- 
ners do,  and  say,  "  If  you  intend  to  feed  me,  old  hen,  why  don't 
you  come  here  and  feed  me?  "  and  "  Isn't  one  place  as  good  as 
another?"  and  "I  went  two  or  three  times,  and  did  not  get 
anything.  Some  other  one  stepped  in  before  me,  and  took  it 
all.  You  picked  out  all  the  speckled  chickens  and  gave  to  them, 
and  won't  give  anything  to  me."  But,  satisfied  with  these  cav- 
ils, sinners  starve  to  death  or  perish,  as  the  result  of  their  rash- 
ness and  imprudence  ;  chickens,  however,  come  again  and  again, 
and  keep  on  coming  until  by  and  by  they  get  something. 

Now  mark,  that  Jesus  Christ  has  a  special  call,  and  this 
special  call  may  be  regarded  as  embracing  the  special  means  of 
grace  ;  for  there  are  common  means,  and  there  are  special  means 
of  grace.  Look  at  the  parable  of  the  marriage  supper.  The 
king  sent  out  his  servants  at  supper-time  to  tell  all  that  were 
bidden  to  come,  for  all  things  were  ready ;  but  they  all,  with 
one  consent,  began  to  make  excuse.  And  the  servants  reported 
accordingly,  and  the  question  was  asked,  "  What  shall  we  do  ?  " 
Shall  we  keep  on  uttering  the  old  common  call,  the  old  appeal, 
cling  to  the  old  course,  persevering  in  the  use  of  old  measures  ? 
No.  Let  us  change  our  measures.  "  Go  out  into  the  highways 
and  byways  and  compel  them  to  come  in,  that  my  house  may 
be  filled." 

Some  people  tell  us,  in  modern  times,  that  they  are  opposed 
to  special  means  of  grace ;  opposed  to  protracted  meetings,  to 
special  efforts,  to  earnest,  long-continued,  persistent  efforts  to 
rescue  sinners  from  threatening  danger,  and  bring  them  into  the 
liberty  of  the  sons  of  God.  But  not  so  was  Jesus.  Not  so 


ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  289 

were  any  of  his  apostles.  When  one  coprsc  of  measures 
failed,  they  introduced  another,  and  another  still.  When  all 
common  or  ordinary  means  failed  to  bring  them  into  the  mar- 
riage supper  of  the  Lamb,  they  went  out  into  the  highways 
and  hedges,  —  that  is,  where  a  great  many  roads  cross  each 
other,  where  there  are  masses  of  human  beings  gathered  to- 
gether. They  were  to  go  into  these  places,  and  compel  them 
to  come  in. 

But  you  will  understand  that  compulsion  was  not  exercised 
by  the  ruler  of  the  feast,  only  by  his  agents  whom  he  sent  out. 
It  does  not  mean  to  compel  them  by  physical  force,  but  it  means 
to  compel  them  by  the  strongest  possible  power  of  persuasion. 
We  are  to  compel,  or  constrain  them,  by  all  the  motives  drawn 
from  heaven,  and  by  all  the  motives  drawn  from  hell ;  by  all 
the  motives  of  our  obligation  to  God  and  to  his  Son  Jesus  Christ ; 
by  all  the  motives  drawn  from  the  enduring  compassion  of  the 
blessed  Son  of  God,  who  wept  over  Jerusalem,  and  said,  "  O, 
Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  thou  that  killest  the  prophets,  and  stonest 
them  which  are  sent  unto  thee,  how  often  would  I  have  gathered 
thy  children  together,  even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under 
her  wings,  and  ye  would  not."  We  are  to  bring  all  these  mo- 
tives to  bear  upon  the  human  family,  and,  if  possible,  compel 
them,  or  constrain  them,  to  come  in. 

You  are  to  understand  that  these  special  means  of  grace  were 
all  gotten  up  by  Jesus  Christ.  You  need  not  give  this  church  or 
its  pastor  the  credit  of  getting  up<  these  meetings.  It  was  God 
that  moved  upon  them  to  get  up  these  meetings.  It  was  God,  my 
dear  hearers,  that  influenced  your  unworthy  speaker  to  come 
some  fifteen  hundred  miles  in  answer  to  your  request,  to  aid  you 
in  constraining  sinners  here  in  this  city  to  come  and  feast  their 
souls  upon  hidden  manna.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  employing 
these  means  for  the  express  purpose  of  inducing  you  to  come 
and  feed  upon  his  love,  and  receive  the  waters  of  eternal  life 
freely,  without  money  and  without  price.  We  are  told  to  "  seek 
the  Lord  while  he  may  be  found,  and  to  call  upon  him  while  he 
is  near."  When  the  hen  utters  this  special  call,  she  always  has 


200  SERMONS   BY 

something  right  at  hand  for  her  brood  ;  and  when  God  utters  his 
special  call,  and  stirs  up  his  saints  to  pray,  and  inspires  his 
ministers  to  preach  with  more  point,  with  more  power,  with 
more  affection,  with  more  cogency  than  usual,  he  is  uttering  the 
special  call,  and  that  special  call  implies  that  the  bread  of  heaven 
is  right  here,  at  the  door ;  you  have  only  to  come  and  partake, 
to  eat  that  which  is  good,  and  let  your  soul  delight  itself 
in  fatness. 

I  want  you  to  remember  that  ministers  cannot  always  preach 
as  they  do  in  times  of  revival.  It  would  not  be  possible. 
Perhaps  they  could  not  live  and  preach  so  all  the  time.  If 
Christians  felt  as  they  do  in  revivals,  continuously,  as  some 
argue  that  they  should  feel,  they  could  not  live.  It  would  be 
utterly  impossible.  I  have  known  many  a  wife,  under  the 
special  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  feel  a  special  anxiety 
for  her  husband,  and  many  a  mother  to  feel  a  special  anxiety 
for  her  children,  that  would  keep  her  awake  nights  and  days 
together  ;  and  had  she  lived  in  that  state  of  mind  for  six  months, 
she  would  probably  have  sunk  into  an  untimely  grave.  This 
anxiety  is  a  special  solicitude,  aroused  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  for 
the  express  purpose  of  reaching  your  souls,  and  bringing  you 
into  the  kingdom  of  God  and  of  -his  Son.  Look  at  the  sainted 
sister  Colgate  —  Deacon  William  Colgate's  wife.  When  I  was 
in  Brooklyn,  laboring  night  after  night,  she  was  there,  linger- 
ing until  a  late  hour ;  she  came  again  and  again,  weeping,  and 
laying  her  interesting  group  of  children  on  the  altar,  and  solicit- 
ing the  prayers  of  the  saints,  until  God  came  and  brought 
salvation  to  her  house.  She  could  not  have  lived  very  long 
in  that  state  of  feeling.  God  was  stirring  up  that  mother  to 
utter  the  special  call.  And  when,  at  the  request  of  the  father, 
I  went  to  see  his  eldest  son,  Robert,  one  morning,  I  had  not 
said  three  words  to  him  before  the  tears  started,  and  he  said, 
"  I  can  endure  anything  else  but  the  tears  of  my  father,  and  the 
prayers,  of  my  mother." 

I  tell  you,  my  beloved  hearers,  it  is  Jesus  Christ  that  calls 
to  you,  uttering  his  special  call  through  father,  or  mother,  or 


ELDER  JACOB  ENAPP.  291 

brother,  or  sister,  or  child.  Thus  God  stirs  them  up  to  utter 
this  special  call,  which  is  directly  from  God.  While  others 
may  deride  their  tears,  and  make  light  of  their  emotions,  and 
talk  against  excitement  and  animal  feeling,  they  are  but  the 
agents  of  the  devil  to  shut  the  kingdom  of  heaven  against  men  ; 
and  Jesus,  inspired  by  all  of  these  things,  urges  his  people  on 
and  on,  by  uttering  the  special  call,  and  manifests  the  strength 
and  purity  of  his  love  for  the  souls  of  the  children  of  men. 

III.  But  then  we  pass  to  speak  of  another  call,  which  we 
denominate  the  call  of  alarm.  The  hen  is  all  the  time  on  the 
lookout  for  danger.  She  is  ever  watching  for  the  safety  of  her 
brood.  When  a  boy,  I  used  to  wonder  why  a  hen  could  discover 
a  hawk,  an  eagle,  a  weasel,  or  a  fox,  so  much  quicker  than  I 
could,  and  I  solved  the  matter  by  coming  to  the  conclusion  that 
she  was  all  the  time  looking  out  for  birds  of  prey,  or  for  some 
danger.  When  danger  threatened,  she  changed  her  dialect,  and 
spoke  in  another  language  altogether,  and  sent  out  a  call  of 
alarm,  until  every  chicken  had  found  a  hiding-place  somewhere. 
And  how  amazed  I  have  been  in  riding  over  the  Western  prai- 
ries, when  the  cry  of  alarm  was  given  by  the  prairie  hen,  to 
notice  that  as  quick  as  you  could  think,  every  single  one  was 
hidden,  add  so  hidden  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  find  them. 
They  understood  the  call  of  alarm,  and  availed  themselves  of 
it,  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  themselves  from  danger  and 
death. 

Ever  since  the  fall  of  man,  not  only  have  every  species  of  an- 
imal in  all  God's  world  had  their  enemies,  but  the  human  family 
have  also  had  their  enemies.  God  has  furnished  the  whole  of  them 
with  some  means  of  self-defence.  Some  depend  upon  the  supple- 
ness of  their  limbs  to  bear  them  away  beyond  the  reach  of  their 
pursuers.  Others  use  their  wings  to  fly  from  their  enemies,  and 
thus  escape  the  ravages  of  their  pursuers,  who  are  hard  upon 
their  track.  Others  betake  themselves  to  the  rocks  and  dens  of 
the  earth.  I  learn  from  old  hunters  that  the  deer  never  takes 
more  than  one  or  two  bites  of  grass  without  raising  his  head  to 
see  if  there  is  any  danger  or  enemy  near.  They  are  all  the  time 


292  SERMONS   BY 

on  the  look  out.  I  have  noticed  that  the  canary  bird  that  dwells 
in  the  house,  and  is  reared  in  a  cage,  and  watered  and  fed  from 
the  hand  of  an  attendant,  never  picks  up  more  than  two  or  three 
seeds  without  lifting  up  its  head  to  see  if  there  is  any  danger 
near.  God  has  given  us  to  understand  that  we  have  our  ene- 
mies, and  he  says,  "  Watch  and  pray,  lest  ye  enter  into  tempta- 
tion." Your  adversary,  the  devil,  is  going  up  and  down  the 
earth,  like  a  roaring  lion,  seeking  whom  he  may  devour.  God 
hath  put  us  on  guard  against  him,  and  told  us  to  watch  and 
pray,  lest  we  enter  into  temptation. 

But,  alas  !  how  much  more  careless  are  a  great  many  human 
beings  than  the  brute  creation !  When  the  hen  utters  the  cry 
of  alarm,  the  brood  betake  themselves  quickly  to  the  coop  ;  but 
when  God  sends  out  the  call  of  alarm  to  the  wicked,  they  seem 
to  give  it  no  heed.  They  talk  against  being  frightened  into  re- 
ligion ;  they  doubt  whether  there  really  is  any  devil,  because  they 
have  not  seen  him,  and  do  not  know  that  the  devil  is  at  their 
heels.  They  fancy  they  are  perfectly  secure,  and  avail  them- 
selves of  no  refuge,  no  hiding-place  from  the  wind,  no  covert 
from  the  storm,  no  resting-place  in  that  Rock  which  Avas  cleft  for 
thee  and  for  me  ;  but  they  rush  right  on,  down  into  the  very 
clutches  of  their  enemy,  and  are  taken  down  into  eternal  night, 
as  the  result  of  their  stupidity  and  folly. 

But  what  is  this  call  of  alarm?  I  answer,  the  word  of  God 
contains  some  very  startling  passages,  which  are  designed  by 
God  as  a  call  of  alarm,  to  startle  sinners  back  from  the  rocks 
upon  which  they  are  liable  to  split.  I  will  quote  two  or  three  : 
"  He  that,  being  often  reproved,  hardeneth  his  neck,  shall  sud- 
denly be  destroyed,  and  that  without  remedy."  One  would 
think  that  such  a  passage  as  that,  coming  from  God  himself, 
would  be  enough  to  startle  every  human  being,  and  induce  all 
to  fly  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  Rock  of  Ages.  Another :  "  Now 
consider  this,  ye  that  forget  God,  lest  I  tear  you  in  pieces,  and 
there  be  none  to  deliver."  An  awful  text ! 

Luther  Merritt,  with  whom  I  have  labored  in  protracted 
meetings,  once  told  me  that  a  friend  of  his  preached  on  that 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  293 

text  one  night  to  a  crowded  audience,  in  which  were  infidels, 
and  scoffers,  and  Universalists.  At  the  close  of  the  sermon,  he 
said,  "  If  there  is  any  man  in  this  congregation  who  is  willing  to 
meet  his  God  to-night,  and  to  measure  arms  with  the  Almighty  ; 
who  doubts  Christianity,  let  him  rise  up."  A  young  man  rose 
in  the  gallery,  and  said,  "I  am  prepared  to  meet  the  Christian's 
God  to-night.  I  fear  him  not.  I  am  ready  to  measure  arms 
with  your  God  before  the  dawning  of  another  day."  That  young 
man  came  down  from  that  gallery  on  that  bright,  cold,  moon- 
shiny  night,  mounted  a  young  and  furious  steed,  and  started  for 
home.  On  the  way  the  horse  became  frightened,  and  threw 
him  upon  a  stick,  that  ran  through  his  body,  and  tore  his  vital? 
out  of  him.  When  his  friends  found  the  horse  in  the  yard  iu 
the  morning,  they  went  in  search  of  the  rider,  and  found  him 
dead  and  ghastly  —  his  disfigured  body  proclaiming  the  violence 
of  the  judgment  that  God  had  visited  upon  him.  I  will  quote 
it  again.  "  Consider  this,  yet  that  forget  God,  lesf  I  tear  you 
iu  pieces,  and  there  be  none  to  deliver."  God  tore  his  vitals 
out  of  him  in  the  silence  of  the  night,  when  there  was  none  to 
deliver,  and  he  went  to  meet  his  Judge,  whom  he  had  challenged 
to  combat,  and  found  that  no  man  could  contend  with  his  Maker 
and  prosper. 

There  are  a  great  many  passages  of  Scripture  that  God  has 
given  us  as  calls  of  alarm ;  but  they  are  the  expressions  of  his 
love.  There  is  just  as  much  love  and  kindness  in  the  heart  of 
the  hen  when  she  utters  this  alarm  as  when  she  utters  the 
special  call,  though  it  may  not  be  so  pleasant  to  the  chickens. 
It  is  all  done  from  the  best  and  highest  regard  for  their  good. 
In  fact,  if  there  be  any  difference,  there  is  a  stronger  expression 
of  love  iu  the  call  of  alarm  than  in  the  special  call.  She  utters 
this  call  as  if  their  very  lives  were  in  danger,  as  they  really  are. 
There  is  just  as  much  love  in  the  heart  of  Jesus  Christ  when 
he  says,  "  He  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned,"  as  when  he 
says,  "  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved." 
It  is  only  another  way  of  expressing  the  same  love,  the  same 
regard  for  the  interests  of  the  children  of  men.  He  would 


294  SERMONS   BY 

apprise  you  of  your  approaching  danger,  that  you  may  find  a 
refuge  in  his  bleeding  side,  and  be  safe  in  the  promised  land, 
where  no  danger  can  approach. 

But,  alas !  you  will  not  heed  the  call  of  alarm.  You  say, 
"  I  do  not  like  to  hear  so  much  about  hell  and  damnation  ;  the 
ministers  are  trying  to  frighten  us  into  religion."  Why  doesn't 
a  chicken  reason  thus,  and  say  to  its  mother,  "  I  do  not  like  to 
hear  such  warnings  and  such  alarming  preaching  as  this.  Why 
don't  you  tell  us  smooth  and  beautiful  things,  and  dwell  upon 
some  pleasing  themes  ;  and  what  harm  have  we  little  chickens 
done,  that  there  should  be  anything  to  tear  us  limb  from  limb? 
We  don't  believe  in  such  themes  as  this,  by  which  you  are  striv- 
ing to  frighten  us." 

What  would  you  think  if  you  were  to  hear  a  hen  calling  her 
brood  of  chickens  along  after  her,  seeking  to  hide  them  in  a 
great  ledge  of  rocks,  and  near  the  base  of  which  there  was  a 
cavity  running  twenty  or  thirty  feet  into  the  rock ;  an  eagle  is 
sailing  along,  and  turns  his  piercing  eye  down  on  the  hen,  and 
she  spies  him  and  sends  out  a  cry  of  alarm.  What  would  you 
think,  I  say,  if  the  chickens  did  not  run,  but  stood  still,  and  com- 
plained of  being  frightened?  We  have  a  better  opinion,  say 
they,  of  our  Creator  than  to  think  that  he  has  made  us  to  be 
torn  to  pieces  and  devoured  when  we  have  done  no  harm. 
And  thus  they  remain  cavilling,  until  the  eagle  fastens  upon 
them  and  carries  them  away.  You  would  think  that  the  chick- 
ens had  no  common  sense  ;  no  instinct  at  all.  But  the  fact  is, 
that  on  the  cry  of  alarm,  almost  as  quick  as  you  can  think,  every 
single  one  of  them  will  have  fled  into  the  cleft  of  that  rock. 
Here  is  Jesus,  the  Rock  of  Ages,  cleft  for  thee  and  me.  He  sends 
out  the  call  of  alarm — "Flee  ye  into  the  mountains!"  and' 
"Turn  ye,  turn  ye,  for  why  will  ye  die  ?  "  but  instead  of  fleeing 
to  Christ,  until  his  indignation  be  passed  by,  ye  go  right  on  in 
sin,  and  perish,  as  ye  fall  into  the  hands  of  your  enemy,  the  devil, 
who  goeth  about,  like  a  roaring  lion,  seeking  whom  he  may 
devour. 

Kence  we  find  this  call  of  alarm  uttered  over  and  over  again  ; 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  295 

but  many  there  are  who  will  not  avail  themselves  of  this  ex- 
pression of  kindness.  Then  Jesus  says,  "  O  Jerusalem,  Jeru- 
salem, thou  that  killest  the  prophets,  and  stonest  them  which 
are  sent  unto  thee,  how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  chil- 
dren together,  even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under  her 
wings,  and  ye  would  not !  " 

This  call  of  alarm  embraces  also  alarm  in  preaching.  God 
calls  some  ministers  to  dwell  upon  terror  more  than  others. 
We  have  gifts  differing  one  from  another.  Some  men  have  a 
peculiar  gift  to  dwell  upon  the  terrors  of  God's  law.  The 
apostle  Paul  said,  "  Knowing  the  terrors  of  the  law,  we  per- 
suade men."  And  those  men  whom  God  calls  to  excel  in  that 
kiud  of  preaching,  —  to  startle  people,  to  alarm  their  fears, 
to  excite  their  interest,  and  thus  secure  the  salvation  of  their 
souls,  —  must  do  it,  or  God  would  smite  them.  They  are 
bound  to  do  it  by  the  love  they  bear  to  the  Savior,  to  the  truth, 
and  to  the  souls  of  men.  Now,  I  say,  that  when  you  are  resist- 
ing all  these  things,  and  complaining,  you  are  resisting  the 
Spirit  of  the  living  God,  and  complaining  of  those  who  would 
do  you  good. 

Observe  further,  that  this  call  of  alarm  embraces  also  striking 
and  alarming  providences.  I  will  give  you  a  few.  Deacon 
Colgate,  more  than  twenty  years  ago,  told  me  a  fair  instance. 
As  a  vessel  was  about  to  sail  from  this  port,  the  officers  made 
a  farewell  supper.  As  the  canvas  was  being  spread  to  the 
breeze,  the  captain  arose,  and  passing  the  brandy  round  the 
board,  called  on  the  company  to  drink  to  the  following  utter- 
ance :  "  Now,  boys,  in  twenty  days,  Liverpool  or  hell."  They 
sailed  on  and  on  over  the  Atlantic  for  nineteen  days.  On  the 
twentieth  day  they  struck  a  rock  and  the  vessel  filled,  and  on 
that  twentieth  day  they  were  —  not  in  Liverpool ! 

Sometimes  God  steps  aside  from  his  ordinary  course  and 
smites  presumptuous  sinners  dead,  that  they  may  stand  as 
beacon-lights  to  warn  others  to  shun  the  rocks  on  which  they 
struck.  During  the  Black  Hawk  war,  in  Illinois,  at  the  time 


296  SERMONS  BT 

•when  God  sent  the  cholera  among  the  people,  an  officer  cursed 
God  for  sending  the  cholera  into  their  midst.  With  an  awfully 
blasphemous  oath  he  opened  his  mouth,  and  God  smote  him 
down  even  as  the  oath  trembled  on  his  lips.  Sydney  Dyer, 
whom  I  baptized  nearly  forty  years  ago,  who  was  a  drummer-boy 
in  that  army,  told  me  that  the  statement  was  correct.  He  saw 
the  very  man  whom  God  smote  down  while  uttering  that  blas- 
phemous oath  against  the  King,  Immortal  and  Invisible.  So 
God  sometimes  smites  the  wicked  by  these  special  providences, 
which  are  calls  of  alarm. 

When  I  was  preaching  in  Watertown,  in  this  State,  a  com- 
pany of  lads,  on  starting  to  skate,  called  at  a  hotel  and  took  each 
a  dram,  and  one  lad  said,  as  he  started,  "  I  will  skate  to  hell  in 
five  minutes."  He  sprang  off,  struck  an  air-hole,  and  went  out 
of  sight  within  five  minutes,  and  never  has  been  seen  from  that 
day  to  this.  God  utters  the  call  of  alarm  when  he  says,  "  Con- 
sider this,  ye  that  forget  God,  lest  I  tear  you  in  pieces,  and 
there  be  none  to  deliver." 

IV.  We  remark  again,  that  there  is  another  call,  which  we 
denominate  the  brooding  call.  You  who  live  in  the  city  have 
noticed,  I  presume,  when  you  have  been  visiting  the  country, 
that  when  the  hen  comes  off  with  a  brood,  how  artfully  she  man- 
ages, and  how  diligently  she  toils  along  from  place  to  place, 
during  the  day,  uttering  her  "  cluck,  cluck,"  all  day  long  ;  and 
by  and  by,  when  the  evening  shades  begin  to  gather,  and  the 
dark  night  is  coming  on,  and  the  chilling  damps  of  the  evening 
dew  begin  to  settle,  she  hastens  away  to  the  coop,  or  to  some 
place  where  she  may  rest  quietly  with  her  flock  until  the  dawn- 
ing of  another  day  ;  then  it  is  that  she  changes  her  dialect,  and 
speaks  in  another  language  altogether.  As  she  spreads  her 
wings,  the  brood  all  understand  her  language,  and  huddle  around 
her,  and  cover  themselves  with  her  feathers  as  she  spreads  her 
wings  over  them.  I  suppose  that  the  Savior  had  the  words  of  the 
Psalmist  in  his  mind  —  u  He  covereth  them  with  his  feathers  "  — 
when  he  uttered  the  words  of  my  text.  How  cheerful  and  bright 


ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  297 

the  little  brood  are  when  they  come  out  in  the  morning,  after 
having  been  kept  all  night  Long  by  the  heat  of  the  body,  and 
protected  from  all  harm  ! 

So,  sinner,  let  me  tell  you  that  there  is  a  dark  night  coming 
on  —  the  dark  night  of  eternity,  when  the  cold,  clammy  sweat 
of  death  will  fall  upon  your  brow  ;  when  your  eyeballs  shall  no 
more  turn  in  their  sockets  ;  when  your  pulse  shall  beat  fainter 
and  fainter,  and  your  spirit  will  take  its  flight  through  the  dark 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  death.  Who  can  be  with  you,  and 
cover  you  there  ?  Jesus  !  Yes,  Jesus  would  give  you  to  under- 
stand, as  he  utters  the  brooding  call,  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye 
that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  Yes, 
"  Jesus  can  make  a  dying  bed  feel  soft  as  downy  pillows  are." 
Jesus  can  warm  and  comfort  your  soul  when  the  king  of  terrors 
is  doing  his  strange  work ;  and  none  but  Jesus  can  do  the  help- 
less sinner  good  when  he  is  urged  on  through  this  dark  and 
dreary  valley  ;  and  if  he  has  no  hope  in  God,  his  condition  is 
terrible  beyond  conception.  But  how  happy  and  cheerful  is  the 
soul  that  has  taken  refuge  in  Jesus? 

I  remember  a  lady,  whom  I  baptized  in  Watertown,  in  this 
State,  whose  husband  was  an  infidel,  who  sickened  and  died. 
On  the  last  night  of  her  stay  on  earth  my  wife  watched  with 
her.  She  lived  in  a  large  stone  house.  She  revived  just  before 
her  death,  and  was  able  to  talk  sufficiently  loud  to  be  heard 
through  all  the  apartments  of  that  building.  After  taking  her 
leave  of  her  mother  and  sisters,  she  turned  her  attention  to  her 
husband,  and  took  him  by  the  hand,  and  begged  of  him  to  pre- 
pare to  meet  her  in  heaven,  and  told  him  how  the  love  of  God 
•was  filling  her  soul ;  and  then  she  began  to  sing,  and  sweetly  sung 
until  her  soul  took  its  upward  flight.  On  the  next  day,  that 
husband  said  to  me,  "  Mr.  Knapp,  I  would  give  everything  in 
the  world  if  all  my  infidel  and  Universalist  associates  had  been 
here  to  see  my  wife  die  !  It  was  enough  to  confound  any  man, 
and  compel  him  to  throw  his  scepticism  overboard.  Nothing 
but  the  love  of  God  could  support  a  person,  and  make  him 
happy  when  dying,  and  enable  him  to  triumph  over  the  king 
21 


298  SERMONS   BY 

of  terrors,  as  my  wife  was  happy  and  triumphed  when  her  soul 
passed  away  in  peace." 

Yes,  none  but  Jesus  can  warm,  and  cheer,  and  protect,  and 
make  happy  your  soul  when  you  are  passing  through  this  valley 
of  death,  through  which  we  must  all,  sooner  or  later,  pass  i 

You  have  noticed,  sometimes,  the  hen  with  her  brood,  late  in 
autumn,  when  the  chilling  winds  are  beginning  to  whistle  about 
on  every  side,  and  a  dark  cloud  is  rising  in  the  west,  that  when 
the  rain  or  hail  begins  to  fall,  if  she  cannot  find  some  shelter  or 
refuge  where  her  brood  can  be  protected  in  peace  and  safety, 
elie  will  stand  out  in  the  storm,  and  spread  her  wings  to  protect 
them,  and  save  them  from  the  storm  and  danger.  This  makes 
me  think  again  of  Jesus.  O,  when  the  scalding  drops  of  Je- 
hovah's wrath  shall  fall  upon  the  wicked,  who  but  Jesus  can 
protect  their  souls?  Who  but  Jesus  can  spread  out  his  wings 
to  protect  them  from  the  rattling  hail  from  heaven  that  shall  fall 
upon  the  ungodly,  who  call  not  upon  his  name  ? 

Yes,  Jesus  seems  to  utter  tbe  brooding  call,  as  if  he  would 
not  only  be  up  to,  but  go  beyond,  every  figui-e  that  can  be  em- 
ployed to  represent  the  compassion  of  a  covenant-keeping  God. 
"  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  thou  that  killest  the  prophets,  and 
stonest  them  which  are  sent  unto  thee,  how  often  would  I  have 
gathered  thy  children  together,  even  as  a  hen  gethereth  her 
chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not."  The  Savior 
would  have  saved  your  souls  from  the  wrath  to  come,  from  the 
avenger  of  blood  that  is  on  your  track,  from  the  eternal  con- 
demnation that  awaits  the  ungodly,  but  you  would  not.  Yes, 
the  compassion  of  God  is  without  a  parallel. 

Then,  I  observe  again,  after  the  hen  has  reduced  herself  to  a 
mere  skeleton  in  order  to  bring  her  brood  into  existence,  and 
moves  through  the  field,  digging  and  toiling  on,  to  provide  food 
for  herself  and  family,  her  love  for  her  chickens  is  such  that  she 
takes  food  out  of  her  own  mouth  for  them,  even  when  her 
own  nature  craves  that  food.  This  makes  me  think  of  Jesus 
again.  Though  he  was  rich,  yet  for  our  sakes  he  became  poor,, 
that  we  through  his  poverty  might  be  rich.  Jesus  has  bared  his 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  299 

bosom  to  the  spear.  He  has  tasted  death  for  every  man.  lie 
sacrificed  all  the  riches  and  glory  of  heaven,  and  became  a  man 
of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief.  He  became  poor,  that  we 
might  be  rich.  O,  the  compassion  of  Jesus  is  beyond  a  parallel 
in  the  universe  of  God.  He  loves  us  with  an  everlasting  love. 
He  thirsted,  and  hungered,  and  had  no  certain  dwelling-place 
while  going  about  and  doing  good,  and  whispering  the  accents 
of  peace  and  mercy  upon  the  ear  of  the  poor  sinner  as  he  was 
moving  on  towards  the  eternal  world.  Yet  sinners  harden  their 
hearts,  and  stiffen  their  necks,  and  stand  out  against  the  mercy 
and  goodness  of  God. 

Again,  I  have  noticed  that  when  the  eagle  or  hawk  approached 
near  the  hen,  if  she  has  not  time  to  provide  a  place  of  refuge  for 
herself  and  brood,  she  will  stand  out  in  the  open  fieldr  and  pitch 
battle  with  that  which  is  too  mighty  for  her  to  save  her  brood, 
and  thrusts  herself  into  the  talons  of  the  eagle  or  hawk,  and  the 
eagle  bears  her  away,  and  upon  the  limb  of  a  distant  oak  tears 
her  flesh  from  her  bones,  and  limb  from  limb,  and  thus  she  lays 
down  her  own  life  to  save  her  brood.  And  this  makes  me  think 
of  Jesus.  When  Justice  —  iron-hearted  and  stern  Justice  —  came 
and  demanded  the  death  of  every  human  being,  Jesus  said  to  Jus- 
tice, "  What  are  your  demands?  I  will  meet  them."  And  he 
laid  down  his  life  as  a  ransom  in  due  season.  He  is  taken  by 
Justice  and  borne  away  to  the  cross  —  nailed  to  the  tree,  and 
crucified ;  and  when  his  Father  hides  his  face,  he  cries  out  in 
agony  of  soul,  "  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken 
me  ?  "  and  drops  his  head  upon  his  bosom,  and  yields  himself 
up  to  the  claims  of  justice,  that  he  might  become  the  end  of  the 
law  for  righteousness  to  every  one  that  believeth. 

Here  we  see  the  compassion  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  Kin<;  of 
Glory.  And  yet  sinners  harden  their  hearts  and  stiffen  their 
necks  against  him. 

My  dying  hearers,  let  me  implore  you  to  yield  to  the  call  of 
God.  Be  induced  to  yield  to  these  calls  of  your  loving  Savior, 
before  you  have  gone  beyond  the  reach  of  hope  forever.  Will 
you  stand  out  in  rebellion,  and  perish,  —  perish  eternally, — 


800  SERMONS  BY 

because  you  scorn  the  message ;  because  you  stop  your  ears 
against  the  voice  of  the  charmer,  though  he  charm  never  so 
wisely  ? 

May  God  constrain  you  by  his  Spirit,  and  by  the  power  of 
his  truth,  and  the  love  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  end  the  controversy, 
and  come  and  be  reconciled  to  God  by  the  death  of  his  Son, 
that  your  souls  perish  not. 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  301 


IV* 

WHY  THE  WICKED  LIVE. 

"Their  foot  shall  slide  in  due  time."  —  DEUT.  xxxii.  35. 

WE  propose,  this  evening,  to  show  you  why  the  wicked  live, 
and  why  the  devil  lives.  God  being  good,  and  opposed 
to  sin  and  misery,  and  to  everything  that  produces  misery 
among  the  world  of  mankind,  and  foreseeing  the  end  of  the 
•wicked,  the  query  may  start  in  our  minds,  Why  does  he  suffer 
the  wicked  to  live  ?  Why  does  he  allow  one  man  to  enslave 
another,  and  require  him  to  perform  unrequited  and  hard 
service?  Why  does  he  allow  another  man  to  convert  a  good 
and  nutritious  substance,  provided  for  man  and  beast,  into  a 
deadly  poison,  to  waste  away  a  man's  constitution,  to  ruin  his 
family,  to  beggar  his  children,  to  break  the  heart  of  the  wife  of 
his  youth,  to  send  the  delirium  tremens  to  so  many  families, 
and  hurry  so  many  to  premature  graves? 

If  God  is  good,  why  does  he  not  cut  these  wicked  men  down, 
and  send  them  to  their  long  homes,  and  prevent  all  the  misery 
which  they  will  produce  by  living  here  upon  his  footstool? 
There  are  reasons  why. 

Many  also  wonder  why  God  permits  the  devil  to  live,  and  why 
he  does  not  either  kill  him  outright,  or  chain  him  down  in  the 
pit,  rather  than  permit  him  to  go  up  and  down  the  earth  like  a 
roaring  lion,  seeking  whom  he  may  devour.  Yet  the  devil  has 
just  as  good  a  right  to  live  as  you  have ;  and  if  age  is  any 
recommendation,  he  has  a  stronger  claim,  for  he  is  a  great  deal 
older  ;  and  if  knowledge  is  any  claim,  he  has  a  stronger  claim 

*  Preached  in  New  York,  November  27,  1866. 


802  SERMONS  BY 

than  you,  for  he  knows  more  than  a  million  of  you.  He  is  a 
subject  of  God's  moral  government,  and  there  are  reasons  why 
God  suffers  the  devil  to  live,  and  there  are  reasons  why  he 
suffers  wicked  men  to  live.  We  are  told  in  the  text,  "  Their 
foot  shall  slide  in  due  time." 

Look  at  the  real  position  of  the  human  family.  The  figure 
of  the  text  represents  the  whole  surface  of  this  earth  as  a  vastly 
extended  inclined  plane,  and  at  the  base  of  this  inclined  plane 
there  is  a  great  gulf,  or  lake,  burning  with  fire  and  brimstone, 
rolling  and  tumbling  in  awful  grandeur.  On  this  inclined  plane 
there  are  some  twelve  millions  of  human  beings,  some  dancing, 
some  gambling,  some  drinking,  and  some  carousing,  and  some 
praying,  and  some  serving  God,  and  some  serving  their  lusts 
and  their  master  the  devil.  Away  up  at  the  head  of  this 
inclined  plane  there  is  a  beautiful  landscape  stretching  on  and 
on,  farther  than  the  human  eye  can  reach.  Those  who  are  so 
happy  as  to  reach  the  head  of  this  inclined  plane,  and  enter 
through  the  gates  into  the  New  Jerusalem,  take  up  their  harps 
and  sing  as  they  pass  on  and  on  over  the  green  and  flowery 
plains  into  the  world  of  eternal  day.  Others  are  now  and  then 
sliding  down  and  making  a  fatal  plunge  into  the  gulf  beneath. 

Why  does  God  let  the  wicked  live?  The  text  says,  "  Their 
foot  shall  slide  in  due  time."  That  is,  when  the  due  time 
comes  their  foot  shall  slide.  And  you  will  understand  that  the 
"  due  time  "  is  when  God  has  accomplished  all  the  good  that 
can  be  wrought  by  letting  the  wicked  live.  When  God  sees 
that  by  letting  a  wicked  man  live  any  longer  there  would  be 
more  evil  than  good  resulting  in  the  universe  from  the  prolonga- 
tion of  that  man's  life,  then  his  time  comes,  his  foot  slides,  and 
he  is  dashed  into  the  burning  lake  beneath. 

1.  We  observe  that  God  lets  the  wicked  live  because  he  is 
good  and  merciful,  and  loves  his  creatures,  and  does  not  delight 
in  misery,  but  in  the  happiness  of  the  human  family ;  and  he 
cannot  bear  to  see  a  man  sliding  and  sliding,  and  making  that 
fatal  plunge,  just  so  long  as  he  can,  consistently  with  the  greatest 
good  of  all,  keep  him  out.  He  watches  over  him  by  night  and 


ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  803 

by  day,  and  keeps  his  heart  beating  and  his  lungs  heaving,  and 
his  guardian  angel  round  about  him.  God  is  waiting  and 
waiting  to  be  gracious,  and  lets  that  man  live  on,  inhaling  the 
atmosphere,  and  drinking  the  water,  and  eating  the  fruits  of  the 
earth,  and  listening  to  the  gospel's  cheerful  sound,  and  in  the 
midst  of  all  the  means  of  grace.  God  lets  him  live  on  just  so 
long  as  he  possibly  can  and  not  have  the  prolongation  of  that 
man's  life  produce  more  evil  than  good. 

Now,  to  illustrate  this  point,  I  will  give  you  a  fact.  Deacon 
Sage,  late  of  Rochester,  but  now  in  heaven,  told  me  that  there 
was  an  infidel  living  in  Brockport,  in  this  state,  who  was  a  gam- 
bler, a  hard  drinker,  and,  of  course,  a  very  rough,  wicked  man. 
One  night,  in  the  midst  of  a  revelry,  while  shuffling  cards 
around  the  board,  he  spoke  of  his  wife,  and  said  that  he  had 
the  best  wife  in  the  State  of  New  York.  "  Anything  and  every- 
thing that  she  can  do  to  promote  my  happiness,  she  will  do  ; 
and,"  said  he,  "  she  is  a  Christian,  and  she  will  serve  her  God 
and  love  her  religion.  Any  sacrifice  that  she  can  make,  on  her 
part,  to  promote  my  happiness,  she  will  make  with  cheerful- 
ness. She  never  murmurs  nor  complains."  Said  he,  "  There 
is  not  her  equal  in  this  state ;  and  I  will  bet  five  dollars  now, 
that  if  you  will  go  home  with  me  to-night,  and  I  order  her  to 
arise  and  prepare  a  supper,  she  will  do  it  without  one  single 
complaint." 

"  Well,"  said  one  of  the  company,  "  I  will  take  the  bet ; "  and 
the  money  was  put  into  the  hands  of  another  man  of  the 
company,  and  he  took  them  home  with  him  between  twelve  and 
one  o'clock  at  night.  His  wife  was  in  bed  and  asleep.  He 
seated  his  company,  awoke  her,  and  ordered  her  to  arise  forth- 
with and  prepare  a  supper  for  himself  and  his  company. 
"  Well,  husband,"  said  she,  "  leave  the  light  in  the  room,  and 
your  wishes  shall  be  complied  with."  She  arose  immediately, 
and  dressed  herself  for  the  kitchen,  and  prepared  them  as  good 
a  supper  as  the  house  could  afford.  She  sat  down  at  the  table, 
and  waited  upon  the  company  with  as  much  care,  and  attention, 
and  kindness  as  if  they  had  been  the  President  and  his  Cabinet. 


304  SERMONS   BY 

And  when  they  got  through  with  the  meal,  she  retired  to  her 
room,  and  the  company  looked  one  upon  the  other  in  amaze- 
ment. The  man  who  had  the  money  at  stake  handed  it  over, 
and  said  that  he  never  saw  the  like  before.  The  husband  him- 
self was  affected  by  it,  hard-hearted  and  wicked  as  he  was. 
After  the  company  had  all  retired,  he  sat  down,  and  said  he, 
"  Wife,  now  I  want  you  to  tell  me  why  it  is  that  you  treat  me 
as  you  do,  when  I  treat  you  as  I  do.  I  receive  nothing  but 
kindness  in  return  for  unkindness.  Anything  and  everything 
in  your  power,  that  you  can  do  to  contribute  to  my  happiness, 
you  are  willing  to  do.  I  cannot  understand  it."  "  Well, 
husband,"  said  she,  "  I  will  tell  you.  I  made  up  my  mind, 
years  ago,  that  all  the  happiness  you  will  ever  have  will  be  in 
your  lifetime,  during  the  short  space  between  the  cradle  and 
the  grave,  and  then  you  will  be  tormented.  But  I  expect  to 
have  my  good  things  in  the  world  to  come.  And  all  that  I  can 
do,  all  that  I  can  suffer,  and  thus  add  to  your  scanty  pittance 
of  enjoyment,  I  will  do  with  all  the  cheerfulness  in  the  world." 
It  went  through  and  through  him  like  electricity.  He  was 
bathed  in  tears.  He  bowed  down  and  begged  her  prayers  ;  and 
that  man  was  converted  to  God. 

Now,  there  was  the  principle  of  Christianity  carried  out  in 
that  woman.  She  understood,  she  had  made  up  her  mind, 
that,  so  far  as  she  could  judge  from  the  evidence  that  she  had, 
her  husband  would  never  repent ;  that  he  would  live  on  in 
sin,  and  die  in  his  sins ;  and  in  the  world  to  come  would  have 
an  ocean  of  misery.  And  all  that  she  could  do  to  increase  the 
scanty  pittance  of  his  enjoyment  she  was  willing  to  do  ;  to  make 
any  sacrifice  for  him,  no  matter  what,  as,  she  looked  at  the 
ocean  of  happiness,  beyond  the  narrow  limits  of  time,  that  was 
in  store  for  herself. 

In  like  manner  God  sees  that  all  the  happiness  you  will  ever 
have  will  be  while  you  are  passing  over  this  narrow  isthmus 
'twixt  two  unbounded  seas.  He  sees  this  of  you  who  will  not 
turn  and  believe  in  and  love  and  serve  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
He  sees  that  your  foot  will  slide  in  due  time,  and  all  that  he 


ELDER   JACOB    KNAPP.  305 

cau  do  to  lengthen  out  the  brittle  thread  of  your  life,  and  extend 
the  time  of  your  enjoyment,  he  delights  to  do ;  and  hence  he 
watches  over  you  awake  and  asleep.  All  the  time,  while 
Justice  is  crying,  u  Cut  him  down ;  why  cumbereth  he  the 
ground?"  Jesus  wards  off  the  execution,  f,nd  you  are  spared 
until  the  due  time  comes. 

But  there  is  a  point  beyond  which  the  forbearance  of  Jesus, 
though  long  continued,  ceases  to  be  a  virtue ;  and  when  that 
time  comes,  and  God  sees  that  by  letting  that  man  live  any 
longer,  his  existence  will  be  productive  of  more  misery  than 
happiness,  and  be  destructive  of  the  greatest  good  of  the  whole 
human  family,  then  the  due  time  has  come,  and  he  must  strike 
the  fatal  blow ;  and  his  foot  slides,  and  he  is  dashed  into  a 
burning  hell.  He  has  then  put  God  under  the  necessity  of 
cutting  him  down,  and  sending  him  to  his  long  home. 

I  have  often  thought  of  a  certain  judge,  who,  after  a  criminal 
had  been  tried  before  him  and  been  found  guilty,  would  rise  up, 
address  the  criminal,  and  expatiate  very  eloquently  upon  the 
willingness  of  the  jury,  and  of  his  own  desire,  to  show  him 
favor,  and  let  him  go  free,  if  they  could.  "  But,  sir,"  he  would 
Sa7»  "  you  must  understand  that  there  is  a  point  beyond  which 
forbearance  ceases  to  be  a  virtue,  and  when  you  have  reached 
that  point,  it  is  necessary  that  the  terrible  blow  should  fall ; " 
and  then  he  would  proceed  to  pronounce  the  sentence  of  the 
law.  As  an  officer  of  the  government,  from  which  he  received 
his  commission,  he  could  do  no  otherwise.  So,  if  a  sinner  will 
not  repent ;  if  he  will  live  in  sin  ;  if  he  loves  sin,  and  rolls  it  as 
a  sweet  morsel  under  his  tongue,  and  tramples  God's  laws 
under  his  feet,  and  crucifies  the  Lord  afresh,  and  puts  him  to  an 
open  shame ;  if  he  dashes  the  cup  of  salvation  from  his  lips, 
and  pushes  his  way  downward  to  the  chambers  of  eternal  night, 
—  then  a  time  comes  in  which  God  must  execute  wrath  upon 
him ;  then  that  due  time  comes,  and  his  foot  slides,  and  he  is 
gone. 

2.  God  lets  the  wicked  live,  lest  by  pulling  up  the  tares  he 
should  also  root  up  the  wheat.  You  remember  the  parable 


306  SERMONS  BY 

given  by  our  blessed  Savior.  It  seems  that  a  certain  man  had 
sown  good  seed  in  his  field  ;  but  his  servants,  going  out  upon  the 
field,  found  tares  springing  up  here  and  there  in  the  field. 
They  returned,  and  said  to  their  master,  "  Did  you  not  sow 
good  seed  in  the  field?  Whence,  then,  are  all  these  tares?  ' 
He  said,  "  An  enemy  hath  done  this ;  while  we  slept  he  has 
sown  these  tares."  You  will  remember  that  always,  when 
Christiana  sleep,  the  enemy  is  sowing  tares.  Atheism,  Deism, 
Universalism,  Mormonism,  and  all  other  "  isms  "  that  are  con- 
jured up  by  the  devil,  are  then  being  sown  broadcast  over  the 
community.  "  Well,"  asked  the  servants,  "  shall  we  go  and 
pull  up  the  tares?  "  "  No,"  said  the  master  ;  "  let  them  both 
grow  until  the  harvest  comes,  lest  by  pulling  up  the  tares  you 
root  out  the  wheat  also." 

To  make  this  perfectly  plain,  we  will  suppose  that  you  are 
looking  on  a  surface  of  ten  acres.  You  sow  the  whole  surface 
to  wheat.  An  enemy  comes  and  sows  tares  all  over  thia 
ten-acre  lot.  They  come  up  all  through  the  wheat.  If  you 
undertake  to  pull  them  out,  with  every  tare  you  pull  one,  two, 
or  three  roots  of  wheat.  Their  roots  are  all  entwined  together, 
and  so,  by  the  time  that  you  have  gone  over  the  surface  of  the 
wheat  and  pulled  up  the  tares,  you  have  completely  destroyed 
the  whole  crop  of  wheat.  Let  both  grow  until  the  harvest, 
which  is  explained  to  be  the  end  of  the  world,  and  then  he  says 
that  he  will  gather  together  the  tares,  and  bind  them  in  bundles, 
and  they  shall  be  cast  into  the  fire  which  is  unquenchable,  but 
the  wheat  he  will  gather  into  his  garner ;  he  will  separate  the 
wheat  from  the  tares,  the  righteous  from  the  wicked ;  the 
righteous  will  be  received  into  heaven,  the  wicked  will  depart 
to  hell —  to  that  fire  which  is  unquenchable.  You  see  at  once 
the  force  and  beauty  of  this  parable.  I  once  knew  a  man  who 
was  an  infidel,  but  whose  wife  was  a  member  of  the  church 
of  which  I  was  pastor.  They  had  sixteen  children ;  but  all 
of  those  sixteen  children  were  converted  before  I  left  the 
town.  One  of  the  number  entered  the  gospel  ministry,  and 
became  a  minister  of  the  gospel  of  the  New  Testament.  The 


ELDER  JACOB    KNAPP.  307 

family  moved  on  in  a  sphere  of  usefulness  and  activity  in  the 
kingdom,  and  I  have  reason  to  hope  that  all,  in  due  time,  will 
reach  the  promised  land,  with  many  more  souls  won  to  Christ, 
and  saved  through  their  agency  ;  how  many  eternity  alone  can 
determine.  If  God  had  cut  that  infidel  down  in  his  youth,  he 
would  have  destroyed  and  rooted  up  all  that  wheat ;  not  only 
the  sixteen  children,  whose  souls  will  reach  the  paradise  of 
God,  but  hundreds  and  thousands  who,  through  their  agency, 
may  be  brought  to  Christ,  and  enter  heaven  to  go  out  no  more 
forever.  Hence  God  lets  the  infidel  live,  and  gathers  all  the 
good  that  he  can  from  that  man's  existence,  and  overrules 
everythiug  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  greatest  amount  of 
good,  until  the  due  time  comes  ;  when  God  sees  that  more  harm 
than  good  will  result  from  the  prolongation  of  his  life,  then  his 
foot  slides,  and  he  is  dashed  into  the  roaring  gulf  beneath. 
"  The  wrath  of  man  shall  praise  him,  and  the  remainder  will 
he  restrain." 

3.  God  lets  the  wicked  live  for  the  purpose  of  showing  forth 
his  long  suffering.  If  God  cut  every  sinner  down  for  the  very 
first  offence,  and  executed  wrath  upon  him  that  doeth  evil,  and 
showed  no  mercy,  nor  forbearance,  nor  long  suffering,  who 
would  ever  know  the  character  of  God?  Who  would  ever 
understand  the  mercy,  forbearance,  and  long  suffering  of  our 
covenant-keeping  God?  This  perfection  in  Deity  must  be 
developed  to  the  admiration  of  all  heaven,  and  earth,  and  hell. 
We  read  much  of  the  long  suffering  of  God  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  We  witness  the  long  suffering  of  God  in  the  days 
of  Noah,  when  the  ark  was  preparing.  God  had  pronounced 
judgment  upon  the  whole  world,  and  yet  his  mercy  extended 
over  them  ;  he  gave  them  time  and  space  for  repentance.  He 
called  after  them,  and  warned  them  by  his  servant  Noah ;  but 
by  and  by  his  long  suffering  could  continue  no  longer.  By  and 
by  justice,  as  a  principle  of  God's  moral  government,  must 
have  its  demands  answered  ;  and  the  flood  came  and  swept  them 
all  away. 

The  long  suffering  of  God  is  exhibited  very  strikingly  in  the 


308  SERMONS   BY 

history  of  his  ancient  people,  the  Jews.  He  appealed  to  that 
hard-hearted,  stiff-necked,  and  rebellious  people  for  year  after 
year.  Yet  century  after  century  rolled  on,  and  they  rebelled 
against  him  more  and  more.  Their  heart  was  fully  set  in  them 
to  do  evil.  But  when  the  time  was  come,  when  he  could  no 
longer  forbear,  he  cried  out,  "  O,  Ephraim,  how  shall  I  give 
tliee  up?" 

The  long  suffering  of  God  waited  while  they  killed  the 
prophets,  and  stoned  them  that  were  sent  unto  them,  and 
beheaded  John  the  Baptist,  and  crucified  the  Son  of  God. 
When  the  long  suffering  of  God  had  been  protracted  as  long  as 
all  the  circumstances  in  the  case  would  permit,  he  was  com- 
pelled to  say,  "  Ephraim  is  joined  to  his  idols  ;  let  him  alone." 
And  Jesus  may  be  compelled  to  say  of  you,  O  sinner,  "  He  is 
joined  to  his  idols ;  let  him  alone."  "  She  is  joined  to  her 
idols ;  let  her  alone."  "  Plead  no  longer ;  waste  no  more 
tears ;  waste  no  more  prayers  ;  spend  no  more  breath  in  tender 
expostulation.  The  long  suffering  of  God  is  sufficiently  de- 
veloped ;  now  the  due  time  has  come  ;  cut  her  down  ;  'for  why 
should  she  cumber  the  ground?"  It  is  on  this  principle  that 
God  says,  "  My  word  shall  not  return  unto  me  void ;  it  shall 
accomplish  the  end  whereunto  I  sent  it."  What  is  that?  A 
sweet  savor  of  God  in  Christ.  And  a  sweet  savor  of  God  in 
Christ  of  life  unto  life  to  them  who  embrace  the  gospel,  and  of 
death  unto  death  to  them  who  reject  it.  In  either  case  it  is  a 
sweet  savor  of  God  in  Christ  both  unto  those  who  are  saved  and 
rise,  and  sing  and  shout,  and  magnify  the  riches  of  God's  grace 
forever ;  and  to  those  who  sink  down  into  dark  despair,  weep- 
ing and  wailing,  and  gnashing  their  teeth,  and  gnawing  their 
tongues  for  pain. 

God's  long  suffering  will  be  magnified  in  the  condemnation 
of  the  wicked.  All  the  heavenly  hosts  will  look  on  and  see  how 
long  God  waited  to  be  gracious  ;  how  long  suffering  he  was  to 
those  who  finally  went  down  to  hell ;  how  his  mercies  extended 
from  childhood  to  old  age,  or  until  the  due  time  came  when 
their  foot  slid,  and  they  made  the  fatal  plunge. 


ELDEB  JACOB   KNAPP.  809 

Ministers  may  stand  up  and  preach  the  truth  of  God  from 
day  to  day,  from  night  to  night,  from  year  to  year,  and  rejoice 
over  every  soul  that  repents  and  turns  to  God ;  and  if  they 
repent  not,  but  sink  to  hell,  they  know  that  their  preaching  will 
not  be  in  vain.  God  will  be  honored ;  Jesus  Christ  will  be 
glorified ;  the  gospel  of  the  dear  Redeemer,  in  all  its  beauty, 
and  forbearance,  and  love,  will  be  understood  by  all  the 
assembled  hosts  when  God  shall  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead. 
But  when  the  long  suffering  of  God  has  been  protracted  as  long 
as  the  case  will  permit,  then  the  due  time  comes,  your  foot 
slides,  and  you  are  gone.  Then  there  is  no  more  hope. 

4.  In  the  next  place,  the  wicked  live  in  order  that  God  may 
give  sinners  time  and  space  for  repentance.  God  is  sincere  in 
calling  upon  all  men,  everywhere,  to  repent.  God  is  waiting 
and  waiting  to  be  gracious.  He  is  unwilling,  as  the  Bible  says, 
that  any  should  perish,  but  would  that  all  should  be  saved,  and 
come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.  God  delighteth  not  in  the 
death  of  him  that  dieth,  but  would  that  he  should  live.  Do 
you  suppose  that,  because  the  wicked  will  be  cut  down  and 
perish  in  hell,  and  through  all  eternity,  such  is  the  choice 
of  the  great  God  ?  If  so,  you  might  suppose  that  God  chose 
that  every  drunkard  should  be  a  drunkard ;  and  every  cruel, 
wicked  man  should  whip  his  wife ;  and  every  knave  should 
overreach  his  neighbor  in  trade ;  and  that  all  the  wicked  and 
abominable  things  that  are  done  under  the  penalty  of  eternal 
damnation  should  be  committed.  You  must  understand  that 
God  delighteth  not  in  the  death  of  him  that  dieth.  It  would  be 
agreeable  to  the  heart  of  Deity,  to  the  heart  of  the  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,  to  see  every  sinner  repent  to-night ;  to 
see  the  entire  world  fall  down  and  worship  the  Lamb ;  to  see 
in  every  human  body  a  broken  heart  and  a  contrite  spirit ; 
and  to  witness  the  pure,  earnest  devotions  of  the  millions  of 
the  human  race  ascending  to  God  like  holy  incense.  But  they 
will  not  do  it. 

So  God  gives  men  time  and  space  for  repentance.  He  gave 
the  old  world  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  in  which  to  repent. 


310  SERMONS   BY 

He  gave  the  Ninevites  time  and  space  for  repentance.  They 
repented,  and  were  saved.  By  crying  mightily  unto  the  God 
of  heaven,  God  heard  their  cries,  and  waived  his  judgment,  and 
prolonged  the  lives  of  the  people  of  that  wicked  city.  He  gave 
the  Jews  time  for  repentance,  even  after  he  had  foretold  their 
doom.  John  the  Baptist,  who  was  a  faithful  and  truthful 
preacher,  went  everywhere,  preaching  and  crying,  "  Behold  the 
Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world."  God  gave 
them  time  and  space  for  repentance,  and  all  that  did  repent 
were  pardoned  and  saved  ;  and  if  all  had  repented,  they  all  would 
have  been  pardoned,  and  sanctified,  and  saved;  What  else  did 
Jesus  mean  in  the  text  from  which  I  preached  to  you  last  night  ? 
"  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  thou  that  killest  the  prophets,  and 
stonest  them  which  are  sent  unto  thee,  how  often  would  I  have 
gathered  thy  children  together,  even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her 
chickens  under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not !  "  Does  he  not  tell 
us  here,  that  he  was  willing  to  gather  that  very  people,  those 
incorrigible  Jews,  who  betrayed  and  crucified  the  Son  of  God, 
and  cried  out,  "  Away  with  him  "  ?  He  was  as  willing  to  gather 
them  together,  and  to  save  their  souls,  as  a  hen  was  to  gather  her 
chickens  under  her  wings.  And  the  reason  why  they  were  not 
gathered,  and  not  saved,  was  because  they  "  would  not."  0, 
that  damning  "would  not "  !  "  Ye  will  not  come  unto  me, 
that  ye  might  have  life."  "  Turn  ye,  turn  ye,  for  why  will  ye 
die?"  "  O  that  they  were  wise,"  saith  God  ;  "  that  they  knew 
this  ;  that  they  would  consider  their  latter  end  ;  that  it  might  be 
well  with  them  and  with  their  children  forever." 

God  lets  you  live  on,  sinner,  in  order  to  give  you  time  and 
space  for  repentance ;  and  you  will  see,  if  you  keep  on,  and 
wake  up  at  last  in  hell,  that  you  might  just  as  well  have  been  in 
heaven  as  anybody  else.  Somebody  else  has  taken  up  your 
harp,  and  received  your  crown.  You,  like  Esau,  have  sold 
your  birthright.  God  spares  your  life  from  year  to  year ;  the 
Spirit  strives ;  ministers  preach  ;  the  church  pleads ;  all  the 
agencies  that  God  possesses  are  moving  around  in  your  midst, 
and  beckoning  you  on  towards  the  celestial  regions ;  but  you  will 


ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  311 

not  go.  Suddenly  the  due  time  comes;  your  foot  slides;  you 
are  gone  ;  you  are  irrevocably  lost ! 

5.  But,  again,  the  wicked  live  in  order  that  God  may  spread 
the  gospel  through  their  agency.  He  prolongs  their  lives  even 
for  the  good  of  the  righteous.  We  often  look  upon  our  perse- 
cutors as  a  great  evil.  We  often  look  upon  worldly,  sensual 
members  of  the  church,  who  are  not  satisfied  with  a.  faithful 
gospel  ministry,  who  want  a  man-pleasing  preacher,  one  who 
shall  give  them  smooth  words  and  fair  speeches,  and  who,  instead 
of  preaching  against  their  pride,  and  vanity,  and  worldly-mind- 
edness,  shall  minister  to  their  passions,  and  pamper  their  pride, 
and  flatter  their  vanity,  and  help  them  on  in  the  consummation 
of  their  carnal  and  selfish  purposes.  We  look  upon  this  class 
as  a  great  calamity  ;  but  yet  God  overrules  the  existence  of  such 
persons  for  very  wise  and  important  ends.  God  maketh  the 
wrath  of  man  to  praise  him,  and  the  remainder  he  restrains. 
We  are  enabled,  when  we  see  these  classes,  to  distinguish  be- 
tween him  that  serveth  God  and  him  that  serveth  Mammon  ;  to 
distinguish  between  the  sons  of  Levi  and  those  who  are  such  in 
word  and  not  in  deed  and  truth.  It  draws  the  faithful  to  the 
mercy-seat,  and  they  pray  the  more  earnestly ;  they  call  upon 
God  out  of  a  pure  heart,  and  all  the  persecution  they  endure  only 
makes  the  gold  shine  the  brighter.  It  is  just  so  in  reference  to 
the  wicked.  We  hear  of  the  opposition  of  infidels,  of  the  sneer- 
ing of  Universalists,  of  the  persecution  of  wicked,  ungodly  men 
in  every  day  and  in  every  age  of  the  world,  and  we  think  they 
are  very  serious  evils  ;  but  after  all  they  may  be  of  very  great 
service  to  the  children  of  God ;  but  I  tell  you  that  we  never 
find  a  true,  earnest,  apostolic  religion,  except  in  times  of  per- 
secution. 

When  Christianity  appears  in  silver  slippers,  and  glides  along 
upon  the  soft  carpet,  —  when  everything  goes  on  smoothly,  and 
we  have  smooth  and  beautiful  preaching,  and  no  opposition  from 
the  wicked, — we  have  a  sickly  piety.  Real  piety  then  dies  out. 
There  is  then  no  real  soul  in  religion.  There  is  nothing  but 
mere  form  when  we  deny  the  power.  But  when  we  have  ene- 


812  SERMONS  BY 

mies  to  oppose  us,  we  are  driven  near  the  mercy-seat ;  we  then 
know  in  whom  we  trust.  We  are  constrained  to  take  the  word 
of  God  as  a  lamp  to  our  feet  and  a  light  to  our  path,  and  to  make 
straight  paths  for  our  feet  as  we  lead  the  way  on  to  heaven. 
So  it  is  necessary  for  the  wicked  to  live  for  the  benefit  of  the 
righteous.  We  have  not  half  enough  persecution  in  the  church. 
If  you  could  only  start  the  devil  once,  we  would  have  something 
done.  I  was  thinking  of  this  as  I  came  on  the  cars  from  Albany 
here  —  looking  at  the  river,  as  I  sat  on  the  river-side,  and  watch- 
ing the  vessels.  There  was  a  little,  gentle  wind,  and  as  the  sails 
of  the  vessels  filled,  they  moved  on  ;  a  good  wind  in  the  direc- 
tion in  which  they  are  moving  carries  them  on  in  good  speed  ;  a 
side  wind  answers  a  very  good  purpose  ;  and  even  a  head  wind 
is  of  more  service  than  no  wind  at  all,  for  they  make  some  head- 
way then  ;  but  in  a  dead  calm,  when  the  sails  do  not  flutter,  but 
hang  down  limber,  there  is  no  progress  at  all  to  be  made.  The 
object  of  the  devil  is  to  take  all  the  wind  out  of  our  sails ;  to 
allay  all  public  and  open  opposition,  and  produce  a  dead  and  still 
calm ;  to  lull  the  church  to  sleep,  and  then  to  send  out  his  em- 
issaries and  sow  tares  broadcast  over  the  land,  until  the  wheat 
is  choked  with  tares,  and  there  is  no  fruit  produced  as  the  re- 
sult. I  have  always  found,  so  far  as  my  experience  goes,  that 
the  greatest  exhibitions  of  divine  power  have  been  where  there 
was  the  greatest  persecution.  Amidst  mobs,  and  threats  of  my 
life,  and  every  conceivable  effort  on  the  part  of  the  wicked  to 
break  up  meetings  and  stop  the  work  of  God,  I  have  always 
found  that  God  then  comes  down  and  works  like  himself.  When 
the  enemy  comes  in  like  a  flood,  then  it  is  that  God  works. 
During  the  mob  in  New  Haven,  I  was  waylaid,  night  after  night, 
by  those  who  thirsted  for  my  blood ;  but  God  carried  me  right 
through,  and  I  never  lost  a  hair  of  my  head.  Had  you  been 
there  then,  you  would  have  seen  the  workings  of  God  Almighty's 
power.  If  you  had  been  in  Boston  when  I  was  preaching  there, 
and  witnessed  the  mobs  that  filled  the  square,  and  the  infidels 
sitting  up  all  night,  making  clubs  to  knock  my  brains  out  with,  — 
but  God  knocked  on  their  hearts,  broke  them,  and  saved  their 


ELDO   JACOB   KNAPP.  313 

souls,  —  you  would  then  have  seen  an  exhibition  of  the  power 
of  the  Great  Eternal  that  you  never  will  see  in  times  when  there 
is  no  opposition. 

God  through  the  devil,  and  the  devil  through  wicked  men, 
scattered  the  disciples  of  Christ  who  huddled  up  in  Jerusalem, 
and  they  went  everywhere  preaching  the  gospel.  More  than 
half  of  our  churches  in  cities  originate  in  the  agency  of  the 
devil.  When  churches  will  not  branch  off,  start  out,  begin 
new  interests,  go  up  and  possess  the  city,  God  always  has  a 
schismatic  devil  on  hand  to  let  out  upon  them,  and  compel 
them  to  do  that  which  they  ought  to  have  done  from  better  mo- 
tives. A  few  years  since,  every  church,  of  all  denominations, 
from  the  Episcopalians  up  to  the  Baptists,  in  Elmira,  N.  Y.,  was- 
divided  into  two  churches,  each  one  building  a  new  house  of 
worship,  and  thus  doubling  the  amount  of  labor  and  their 
power  for  good.  God  says,  "The  wicked  are  my  sword,"  and 
through  this  sword  God  has  opened  the  way  for  the  spread  of 
the  gospel  among  all  nations.  If  there  is  any  quarrelling  to  be 
done,  or  fighting,  the  devil  is  always  on  hand. 

We  must  have  wicked  men,  and  we  must  have  devils.  We 
need  them  both.  They  drive  us  nearer  to  God.  They  make 
us  pray  more  earnestly.  They  make  us  feel  our  dependence 
upon  God  more  intently.  They  nerve  up  our  souls  to  the  work 
of  serving  God,  and  thus  render  very  essential  service  in  help- 
ing on  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Yes,  we  may  well  say, 
when  the  question  is  asked,  "Why  do  the  wicked  live?"  they 
live  to  serve  God ;  or,  rather,  that  God  may  serve  himself  by 
them,  and  make  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  him,  while  he  re- 
strains the  remainder.  God  overrules  all  that  the  wicked  do 
for  some  good  purpose.  Every  good  thing  that  can  be  reached 
by  the  infinite  wisdom  and  power  of  God  will  be  reached,  and 
thus  God  will  make  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  him,  and  he  will 
restrain  the  remainder.  I  have  been  in  meetings  where  men 
could  not  swear  without  converting  somebody.  I  have  known 
men,  and  Universalists,  to  get  up  in  the  midst  of  a  congregation, 
and  curse  the  minister  to  his  face,  and  throw  stones  at  him ; 
22 


814  SERMONS  BY 

but  God  Almighty  converted  sinners  just  by  those  oaths.  Sin- 
ners began  to  ask  themselves,  "  Is  this  the  company  I  am  to 
have  in  hell  ?  Have  such  outrageous  miscreants  in  human  form 
got  to  be  endured  through  all  eternity  in  hell?  Then  I  won't 
go  there  ;  "  and  they  fell  right  down  and  began  to  beg  for  mercy, 
and  were  converted  to  God.  I  have  often  thought  that  my 
enemies  did  me  more  good  than  my  friends.  No  thanks  to 
them,  though,  for  it.  There  was  a  Judas  Iscariot  for  the  be- 
trayal of  our  Lord  and  Master.  I  do  not  know  where  I  should 
have  landed  ere  this,  if  I  had  had  no  enemies,  if  all  had  been 
friends^  and  all  been  smooth  sailing.  I  might  have  been  exalted 
above  measure,  and  fallen  into  condemnation.  But  my  enemies 
are  always  watching  for  me.  If  there  is  a  stain  anywhere,  they 
are  sure  to  see  it.  If  there  is  a  spot  upon  anything  in  my  course 
of  operation,  they  are  sure  to  detect  it.  They  are  all  the  time 
watching  for  us  :  hence  we  must  be  on  our  guard  ;  we  must  set 
a  double  guard  upon  our  lips  in  the  presence  of  the  wicked,  lest 
the  uncircumcised  should  triumph.  God  overrules  all  these 
things  for  our  good  and  for  his  own  glory. 

6.  Again :  we  need  the  devil  and  wicked  men  in  order  to 
test  character.  When  God  made  this  world,  and  placed  Adam 
in  it,  you  know  that  he  placed  him  under  the  law,  and  laid  a 
prohibition  upon  one  single  thing.  He  prohibited  him  from  eat- 
ing the  fruit  of  one  tree  in  the  garden ;  but  Adam,  under  the 
temptation  of  the  enemy,  and  under  the  influence  of  his  wife, 
plucked  the  fruit  and  ate  thereof.  The  crown  fell  from  his  head, 
and  he  was  driven  out  of  the  garden,  and  the  flaming  sword 
guarded  the  way  to  the  tree  of  life.  So  God  does  not  mean 
to  let  anybody  into  heaven  until  their  characters  are  tested.  It 
is  not  as  easy  a  thing  as  many  men  think  for  God  to  keep  a  race 
of  moral  agents  in  obedience  and  subjection  to  his  moral  law. 
We  have  knowledge  of  but  two  kinds  of  moral  agencies  — 
angels  and  men.  We  know  that  many  angels  have  fallen  ;  they 
have  risen  up  in  rebellion  against  God,  and  been  cast  down  into 
hell,  and  reserved  in  chains  of  darkness  until  the  judgment  of 
the  great  day  shall  come. 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  815 

"We  know  that  the  entire  family  of  man  have  fallen.  It 
seems  as  if  it  was  not  a  very  easy  thing  for  even  God  himself 
to  preserve  a  race  of  moral  agents  in  a  state  of  sinless  perfection. 
Do  you  suppose  thai  our  first  parents  knew  anything  about  the 
connection  between  sin  and  misery  before  the  experiment  had 
been  tried  ?  Not  at  all.  Do  you  suppose  that  Adam  and  Eve 
had  a  conception  of  the  tremendous  results  that  would  follow  a 
violation  of  God's  law  ?  Do  you  suppose  that  they  imagined 
that  their  son  Abel  would  fall  a  victim  to  the  rage  and  envy  of 
another  son,  Cain  ?  that  they  would  look  upon  the  manly  form 
of  their  own  son,  with  all  the  pangs  of  sorrow  that  racked  their 
frame  and  continued  to  chafe  them  through  life  ?  They  had  no 
such  conception.  Do  you  suppose  that  they  had  any  idea  that 
millions  and  millions  of  their  posterity  would  become  demons, 
weeping,  and  wailing,  and  gnashing  their  teeth,  and  gnawing 
their  tongues  in  pain,  while  the  smoke  of  their  torment  should 
roll  up  from  the  depths  of  hell?  They  had  no  such  thought. 
They  knew  nothing  about  the  connection  between  sin  and 
misery.  It  was  not  possible  that  they  could  know. 

God  does  not  mean  to  have  any  human  soul  or  rebel  in 
heaven  until  he  is  fully  reformed,  and  his  character  fully 
tested.  He  knows  the  wickedness  of  man.  You  know  that  we 
are  forbidden  to  lay  hands  suddenly  upon  any  man ;  that  we 
are  not  to  ordain  a  novice,  lest  he  should  be  lifted  up  in  pride 
and  fall  into  condemnation.  It  is  not  safe  to  introduce  men  into 
the  ministry  until  they  are  tested ;  and  if  it  is  inexpedient  to 
introduce  men  into  the  ministry  until  their  characters  have 
been  tested,  do  you  think  that  any  one  will  ever  be  introduced 
into  the  paradise  of  God  without  having  his  character  tested  ? 
Never  !  Never  !  This  world,  my  friends,  is  a  world  of  trial, 
and  we  need  the  devil  to  tempt  and  try  the  children  of  men,  that 
their  characters  may  be  fully  and  thoroughly  tested.  We  need 
the  devil ;  we  must  have  the  devil  to  work  with  all  deceitful- 
ness  and  unrighteousness  to  tempt  every  character ;  and  you 
find  sometimes  a  great  hoard  of  these  miserable,  filthy,  impure 
spirits  sweeping  along  through  the  community,  bearing  numbers 


816  SERMONS  BY 

away  to  the  bottomless  pit.  They  could  not  stand  the  test,  and 
away  they  went.  One  will  falter  here,  and  another  there. 
One  is  tempted  away  to  the  theatre,  another  to  the  gaming 
table,  another  to  the  accumulation  of  wealth, "hoarding  it  up  to 
gratify  his  pride,  instead  of  doing  good  with  it.  Their  char- 
acters are  all  tested,  and  such  as  stand  the  test,  and  resist 
temptation,  and  cling  to  Jesus,  will  finally  be  fitted  and  prepared 
for  heaven,  and  will  reach  the  promised  land  in  due  time,  and 
never  rebel  against  God  again. 

They  have  been  led  through  much  tribulation,  for  such  is  the 
way  to  glory.  They  can  say,  "  I  have  fought  the  good  fight,  I 
have  kept  the  faith,  and  there  is  henceforth  laid  up  for  me  a 
crown  which  a  righteous  Judge  shall  give."  All  the  temptations 
of  hell  can  never  draw  them  into  rebellion  again.  It  is  a  great 
thing  to  have  escaped  the  pollutions  of  the  world,  and  been 
washed  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  entered  heaven,  where 
there  is  no  more  sighing,  and  no  more  temptation,  and  be  per- 
-mitted  to  dwell  in  the  sunshine  of  God's  glory  forever.  We 
must  be  tempted.  The  trial  of  our  faith  is  more  precious  than 
gold.  You  remember  that  the  barren  fig-tree  must  be  tried, 
and  dug  about  until  all  hope  of  its  bearing  fruit  becomes  extinct, 
and  then  it  shall  be  cut  down  as  a  cumberer  of  the  ground.  So 
the  due  time  comes  at  length  when  the  sinner  has  accomplished 
all  the  ends  that  God  can  reach  by  letting  him  live,  and  then 
he  cuts  him  down. 

7.  Then,  again,  God  lets  the  wicked  live  to  spread  the  gospel 
negatively.  I  will  give  you  a  few  instances.  I  will  refer  you 
to  one  in  ancient  days.  You  know  that  there  was  a  time  when 
the  apostles  of  Jesus  Christ  were  all  poor,  illiterate  men. 
Luke,  it  is  true,  was  a  physician,  and  Paul  was  brought  up  at 
the  feet  of  Gamaliel ;  but  most  of  the  disciples  were  poor.  They 
had  but  little  money.  There  were  no  missionary  societies  in 
those  days.  When  God  wanted  to  send  missionaries  away 
down  to  Rome,  so  as  to  spread  the  gospel  as  rapidly  as  possible, 
there  were  no  missionary  societies  nor  missionary  vessels  ready 
to  send  or  take  them.  The  devil  had  a  terrible  inkling  after 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  317 

Paul ;  he  wanted  to  get  hold  of  him.  Paul  was  then  making 
inroads  upon  the  devil's  kingdom  wherever  he  went,  and  the 
devil  laid  hold  upon  him  and  put  him  in  irons.  When  Paul 
appealed  unto  Caesar,  said  the  king,  "  Thou  shalt  go."  The 
devil  took  him  down  to  the  port,  and  bore  his  expenses  all  the 
way.  Here  God  made  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  him,  and 
restrained  the  remainder.  God  wanted  the  gospel  preached -in 
Rome,  and  would  have  it  preached  there.  God  owned  all  the 
money  that  was  in  the  devil's  pocket,  and  made  the  devil  hand 
it  over.  He  took  this  missionary  down  to  Rome,  and  kept  him 
there  for  three  years  and  six  months  preaching  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  Christ. 

Look  at  the  case  in  more  modern  times.  In  1839,  as  I  told 
the  friends  in  a  temperance  meeting  the  other  night,  God  sent 
me  to  Baltimore  to  preach.  God  began  the  work,  in  the  first 
place,  among  drunkards.  The  rum-sellers  became  very  much 
out  of  patience  because  they  were  losing  their  customers.  They 
became  very  much  filled  with  wrath  and  malice  towards  the  un- 
worthy Baptist  preacher  whom  God  employed  in  leading  on  the 
sacramental  host  from  conquest  to  conquest,  and  they  swore 
vengeance  upon  him.  The  young  men  constituted  a  temperance 
society,  and  invited  me  one  night  to  preach  a  sermon  on  temper- 
ance. I  agreed  to  do  so.  The  rum-sellers  had  a  meeting,  and 
appointed  a  delegation  to  go  and  hear  my  sermon,  and  report. 
They  came  in  and  sat  down  behind  the  door,  and  as  the  ser- 
vice went  on,  and  solemn,  pointed,  and  pungent  truths  were 
preached,  they  began  to  feel  the  power  of  God's  truth.  After 
the  service,  they  went  back  to  make  a  report,  and  the  old  rum- 
seller,  standing  behind  the  counter,  said,  "  What  report  have 
you  to  make  ?  "  "  Well,"  said  one,  "  we  "heard  a  great  deal 
more  truth  than  poetry."  "But  what  did  the  elder  say?" 
asked  another.  "  I  wish  that  you  had  been  there  and  heard 
for  yourselves,"  said  one  of  the  delegation.  "  But  what  did 
he  say?  "  "  Well,"  replied  one,  "  he  said,  if  you  will  mark, 
you  will  find  the  rum-seller  dressed  in  fine  broadcloth,  and  a 
fine  shirt,  and  silk  hat,  and  beautiful  boots,  carrying  his  head 


318  SERMONS  BY 

high,  and  living  in  ease  and  affluence ;  but  you  will  see  that 
you  have  on  an  old  coat  out  at  the  elbows,  old  pants  in  strings ; 
and  you  see,"  said  he,  "  that  it  is  just  as  Mr.  Knapp  says. 
There  you  sit  with  your  broadcloth  and  fine  shirt,  while  here  I 
stand  in  all  my  rags.  I  begin  to  get  my  eyes  opened.  More- 
over, he  said  that  the  rum-seller's  wife  will  be  dressed  like  a 
]g,dy :  she  wears  her  silks  and  satins,  and  her  beautiful  hat ; 
while  your  wife  has  on  an  old  calico  dress,  rent  and  patched, 
and  old  shoes  on  her  feet,  and  without  a  bonnet  decent  enough 
to  appear  in  any  congregation  under  heaven.  And  these  things 
are  all  true,"  said  the  delegation. 

The  rum-seller  began  to  feel  indignant  and  vindictive,  and 
poured  out  his  anathemas  on  Knapp.  "  I  won't  hear  that 
man  abused,"  said  Mitchel,  one  of  the  men  ;  "  I  believe  that  he 
is  a  good  man,  and  that  he  is  doing  good  in  the  city.  If  you 
abuse  him  any  more,  I  will  leave  your  house  ;  and  you  are 
afraid  of  losing  your  custom."  He  began  to  see  through  these 
landsharks.  But  the  rum-seller  felt  so  badly,  that  he  kept 
all  the  time  heaving  up,  heaving  up,  and  pouring  forth  his 
invectives  upon  the  preacher.  Mitchel  was  as  good  as  his 
word.  He  rose  up,  put  on  his  hat,  and  said,  *'  I  will  never 
drink  another  drop  in  your  house  so  long  as  my  name  is 
Mitchel,"  and  left.  On  the  way  home,  said  he,  "  Why  can  I 
not  resolve  never  to  drink  another  drop  anywhere?  I  will 
do  it,"  said  he ;  and  that  night  they  got  up  a  pledge  of  total 
abstinence  from  intoxicating  drinks  ;  and  there  began  the  Wash- 
iugtouian  reform  that  rolled  over  the  Eastern  States,  and  con- 
verted hundreds  and  thousands  of  inebriates. 

Thus  you  see  how  God  made  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  him. 
If  it  had  not  been  for  that  old  rum-seller  damning  Knapp,  and 
cursing  the  Baptists,  that  great  Washingtonian  reformation 
would  never  have  commenced,  so  far  as  we  can  see ;  and  if  so 
much  good  could  be  brought  about  by  their  heaping  their 
anathemas  upon  your  unworthy  servant,  I  say,  let  them  curse. 

The  God  whom  we  serve,  who  can  turn  the  hearts  of  the 
children  of  men  as  the  rivers  of  water  are  turned,  can  overrule 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  319 

everything  that  occurs,  for  his  own  glory,  and  for  the  best 
interests  of  the  human  family. 

Take  an  illustration  in  your  own  city.  When  I  was  preach- 
ing in  the  Baptist  Tabernacle,  in  1840,  we  felt  very  desirous, 
as  the  house  was  very  capacious  (the  gallery  would  seat  more 
than  twelve  hundred),  that  all  should  come  and  hear  the  gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ  preached.  We  were  conscious  that  circulating 
handbills,  and  putting  notices  in  the  paper,  would  avail  but 
little,  as  men  seldom  notice  these  things,  or  pass  them  by,  and 
they  are  soon  forgotten.  But  at  length  God  instigated  the  devil 
to  go  and  move  on  Bennett,  and  get  him  to  publish  a  notice  of 
the  meeting ;  and  Bennett  sent  a  reporter  into  our  meetings, 
and  he  reported  the  speeches,  and  turned  them  "  every  which 
way,"  and  mixed  the  sentences  pell-mell,  and  made  them  appear 
very  ludicrous,  and  some  of  them  very  ridiculous  ;  and  Bennett's 
paper  circulated  all  through  the  city  among  all  the  infidels,  and 
among  all  the  Tammany  Hall  folks,  who  took  that  paper  (and 
they  were  almost  the  only  ones  who  did  take  it).  We  thus  had 
an  advertisement  of  our  meetings.  The  devil  advertised  them 
at  his  own  expense.  And  when  we  went  over  into  Jersey  City 
to  baptize,  we  chartered  a  ferry-boat,  and  went  over  by  thou- 
sands ;  and  Bennett  sent  over  his  reporter,  and  there  he  got 
brother  Everts  pictured  out  like  a  clown,  and  myself  like  some 
old  chuckle-headed  drunkard,  and  between  us  two  we  took  the 
candidates  for  baptism  down  into  the  water,  and  dipped  them  in 
horizontally.  The  newsboys  sold  the  papers  from  street  to 
street,  and  the  infidels  kept  pouring  in  and  pouring  in  to  the 
meetings  to  gratify  their  curiosity.  They  read  such  very  strange 
things  that  they  thought  that  they  must  come  and  hear  the 
preacher,  and  see  whether  he  was  an  elk  or  a  moose,  and  how 
long  his  horns  were.  And  on  they  came. 

Among  the  number  was  an  infidel,  who  had  not  been  to  a 
meeting  in  ten  years,  and  who  had  sworn  with  an  oath  that  he 
never  would  enter  the  house  of  God  again  ;  and  connected  with 
the  oath  a  wish  that,  if  he  did,  the  roof  might  fall  in  and 
kill  him  on  the  spot.  He  read  in  the  paper  what  was  said 


820  SERMONS   BY 

about  God  saving  the  people  by  scores  and  hundreds,  and  bring- 
ing them  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God.  He 
thought  to  himself,  "  I  must  go  once  ;  I  must  hear  the  man 
once  ; "  and  he  came  and  took  a  seat  in  the  body  slips.  Very 
soon  the  house  was  filled  to  a  jam,  above  and  below.  Every 
standing-place  was  filled,  and  they  were  as  thick  as  they  could 
squeeze  in.  The  porch  was  full  —  full  even  out  into  the  streets. 
He  sat  there,  and  when  the  speaker  arose  and  announced  his 
text  the  house  was  very  still  and  solemn.  He  looked  upon  the 
right,  and  saw  all  around  him  weeping ;  then  upon  the  left,  and 
they  were  all  weeping  ;  and  he  began  to  feel  a  strange  sensation 
coming  over  him.  Pie  looked  towards  the  door,  as  if  he  would 
like  to  escape,  but  there  was  no  getting  through  that  crowd. 
He  then  looked  up  to  see  if  the  roof  was  coming  down,  but  the 
roof  moved  not.  There  he  sat,  as  we  spoke  God's  truth  from 
the  fulness  of  our  soul.  He  was  melted  down  and  subdued,  and 
induced  to  come  to  the  seats  at  the  close  of  the  sermon,  and 
was  converted  to  God  before  he  left  that  house. 

We  could  not  have  done  th*at  but  for  the  devil  and  wicked 
men.  Though  all  the  rest  of  the  papers  in  the  city  had  pub- 
lished our  meetings,  these  infidels  would  not  have  come  ;  but 
Avhen  their  old  master,  the  devil,  began  to  advertise  them,  they 
thought  that  it  was  time  to  see  what  was  going  on.  They  kept 
pouring  in  and  pouring  in,  until  there  were  hundreds  and 
thousands  converted  throughout  the  entire  city,  and  the  city  was 
convulsed  from  centre  to  circumference.  Hence  God  makes  the 
wrath  of  man  to  praise  him,  and  restrains  the  remainder.  We 
see  why  God  lets  the  wicked  live,  and  why  he  lets  the  devil 
live. 

I  can  look  back  upon  the  time  when  we,  as  Christians,  really 
felt  grieved  when  we  read  about  slavery.  I  had  never  seen  a 
slave,  or  a  slaveholder,  up  to  the  time  that  I  left  the  Institution 
at  Hamilton.  When  I  read  the  account,  my  heart  was  stirred 
within  me.  We  prayed  and  preached,  and  lectured  and  wrote, 
and  circulated  tracts.  We  did  everything  that  we  could  to 
break  their  bonds,  and  let  the  oppressed  go  free.  We  did  all 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  321 

that  we  could  to  establish  the  broad  principle  that  all  men  are 
free  and  equal ;  that  all  men  had  a  right  to  life,  liberty,  and  the 
pursuit  of  happiness,  according  to  the  laws  that  God  had  made 
for  the  benefit  of  the  human  race.  But  by  all  that  was  said  and 
done  we  could  not  reach  the  slave  ;  we  could  not  break  his 
bonds.  The  church  and  the  abolitionists  went  to  the  extent  of 
their  power,  but,  in  spite  of  all  said  and  done,  slavery  was 
striking  its  roots  down  deeper  and  deeper  into  the  soil,  and  its 
dark  branches  were  stretching  over  all  the  United  States.  The 
government  could  not  stir.  We  were  bound  by  the  constitution, 
and  by  the  clamors  of  the  Southern  people.  Between  the  two, 
the  people  of  the  North  were  completely  hampered.  Were  it 
not  for  the  devil  and  wicked  men  it  would  not  have  been 
abolished,  perhaps,  at  all.  But  when  Jefferson  Davis,  Mason 
and  Slidell,  and  all  those  leading  rebels,  stirred  up  by  the  devil, 
sought  to  extend  slavery  all  through  the  United  States  of 
America,  and  make  all  the  territories  slave  territory,  —  when 
they  sought  to  hold  the  reins  of  this  republic  until  they  could 
establish  a  vast  aristocracy,  and  keep  all  the  power  in  them- 
selves,—  then  it  was  that  these  leading  men  accomplished  what 
all  the  saints  in  Christendom  could  not  do.  God,  of  course, 
was  standing  behind  the  curtain  and  pulling  the  wires,  and 
seeing  them  dance  ;  and  they  danced  until  they  trampled  off  the 
chains  of  the  slave.  God  let  them  work  ;  but  he  overruled  this 
mighty,  gigantic  rebellion  for  the  accomplishment  of  a  vast 
amount  of  good.  Eternity  alone  can  tell  how  much.  •  I  rejoice, 
and  I  will  rejoice,  over  the  terrible  conflict,  although  one  of  my 
dear  sons  fell  on  the  field  of  battle. 

O  God,  how  majestic  are  thy  ways  !  They  are  a  great  deep. 
Who  by  searching  can  find  out  God  to  perfection?  It  is  a 
fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God.  Sinner, 
when  you  have  served  your  master,  the  devil,  and  gone  your 
length,  and  God  has  accomplished  all  the  good  that  he  can 
reach  by  letting  you  live,  and  you  fail  to  repent,  the  due  time 
comes ;  then  your  foot  slides,  and  you  are  gone  down  to  the 
depths  of  dark  condemnation.  Then  there  is  no  hope. 


322  SERMONS  BY 

But  mark  our  position.  Here  we  are  upon  this  vastly  ex- 
tended inclined  plane ;  and  at  the  base  of  this  inclined  plane 
there  is  a  lake  burning  with  fire  and  brimstone,  rolling  high 
and  thundering  loud.  Every  now  and  then  one  slips  in  and  is 
dashed  into  eternity.  Away  along  at  the  head  of  this  inclined 
plane  the  landscape  stretches  on.  Angels  look  down  upon  us. 
Our  friends,  who  have  gone  before,  look  down  upon  us.  "  I 
have  a  father  in  the  promised  land."  There  is  a  mother  in  the 
promised  land ;  here,  a  tender-hearted  wife,  who  watered  her 
couch  with  tears  in  intercessions  to  God  for  her  husband  ;  there 
are  little  babes  that  fell  asleep  in  Jesus,  all  looking  back 
wistfully,  and  beckoning  us  to  come  up  to  the  promised  land. 
But,  alas  !  one  refuses,  and  another  refuses  ;  they  go  on  down  to 
the  termination  of  this  inclined  plane,  and  are  there  hurled  into 
perdition.  But  while  standing  on  the  verge  of  eternal  ruin, 
Jesus  condescends  to  come  down  from  heaven.  He  passes 
around  on  this  inclined  plane,  and  says  to  one  and  to  another, 
"  Will  you  come  to  the  promised  land?  Will  you  come  to  the 
land  radiant  with  glory,  beaming  with  liglit  ?  "  He  offers  you 
his  hand  to  conduct  you  up  to  the  promised  land.  One  goes  ; 
another  refuses,  and  perishes.  O,  my  friends,  how  quickly  we 
shall  all  be  in  heaven  or  in  hell !  May  God  in  heaven  lead 
you  to  see  how  long  his  goodness  and  mercy  have  endured  for 
you  ;  but  if  you  despise  or  neglect,  your  foot  will  slide  in  due 
time.  We  call  upon  you  to  make  haste  to  turn  and  be  saved. 

We  now  invite  all  who  wish  the  prayers  of  Christians  to  take 
these  seats.  Let  all  who  profess  religion,  who  feel  that  they 
need  prayer,  and  wish  the  prayers  of  their  brethren,  come  up. 
Let  backsliders  come,  too.  I  tell  you  we  are  in  a  dying  world  ; 
we  are  passing  away  rapidly  ;  our  destiny  may  hang  upon  the 
decision  of  a  single  night.  I  pray  you  all  to  come  right  up  and 
fill  these  seats. 


ELDEJJ  JACOB   KNAPP.  823 


V. 

THE  NEW   BIRTH. 

"Make  you  a  new  heart  and  a  new  spirit"  —  EZEKIEL  xviii.  31. 

"  Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,   0  God,  and  renew  a  right  spirit 
within  me."  —  PSALM  li.  10. 


is  no  discrepancy  between  these  two  passages.  God 
JL  creates  within  us  a  clean  heart,  and  we  make  to  ourselves 
a  new  heart.  There  is  both  a  divine  and  human  agency  in 
every  case  of  conversion.  Sometimes  greater  prominence  is 
given  to  the  divine  element  in  the  account  of  the  change  ;  some- 
times greater  prominence  is  given  to  the  human  element. 

I.  Our  first  inquiry  relates  to  the  import  of  the  phrase 
"  new  heart,"  or  "  clean  heart."  What  is  to  be  understood 
by  it? 

The  term  "  heart"  describes  the  moral  activities  of  the  soul, 
including  the  affections  and  the  will.  The  command  of  God  to 
us  is,  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart, 
mind,  might,  and  strength."  And  herein  he  requires  us  to  give 
to  him  the  supreme  and  unreserved  exercise  of  our  affections 
and  wills. 

Now  every  unconverted  man  loves  self  supremely,  and  wills 
to  serve,  and  does  serve,  self  entirely.  Whether  he  gives  for 
religious  purposes  or  withholds,  whether  he  prays  or  swears, 
God  is  left  out  of  his  reckoning  :  self  is  the  supreme  object  of 
his  affections.  If  he  does  a  good  act,  it  is  not  because  he  loves 


324  SERMONS   BY 

God,  but  because  he  desires  to  be  seen  of  rnen,  or  to  merit  re- 
ward from  God  ;  if  he  refrains  from  performing  a  good  deed,  it 
is  because  he  is  under  the  control  of  a  selfish  impulse  ;  if  he 
swears,  it  is  to  gratify  a  depraved  passion  ;  if  he  prays,  it  is 
from  fear  of  personal  suffering.  He  would,  if  he  could,  make 
himself  the  moral  centre,  around  whom  God,  men,  and  devils 
should  revolve,  as  planets  around  the  sun.  His  precious, 
beloved  self  is  the  centre  of  moral  gravity.  The  glory  of  God, 
the  interests  of  his  kingdom,  the  greatest  good  of  the  universe, 
are  all  overlooked  or  set  aside  ;  self  reigns  supreme. 

If  unregeuerated  sinners  were  to  be  admitted  into  heaven, 
there  would  be  as  many  petty  kingdoms,  and  as  many  little 
sovereignties,  as  there  were  unconverted  hearts  ;  and  heaven 
would  be  worse  than  Mexico  or  South  America,  where  faction 
is  rising  up  against  faction,  and  demagogues  are  plotting  against 
and  destroying  each  other.  Every  man  would  set  up  for  him- 
self, and  all  would  unite  only  in  one  purpose  of  assailing  and 
overthrowing  the  absolute,  but  righteous  "  throne  and  majesty 
of  God." 

Hence  we  see,  then,  before  God  and  man  can  be  reconciled, 
man  must  have  "  a  new  heart."  He  "  must  be  born  again." 

II.  In  what  does  the  change  contemplated  consist? 

It  does  not  consist  in  the  creation  of  any  new  faculty  of  the 
soul.  The  original  properties  or  elements  of  the  moral  nature 
remain  unchanged  in  those  things  that  are  essential  to  their 
entity  or  being.  Before  regeneration  man  has  the  power  of 
understanding,  judging,  loving,  and  choosing  ;  and  he  has  them 
after  regeneration.  But  the  new  creature  finds  that  these 
faculties  of  the  soul  have  new  objects,  and  take  new  directions. 
"  Old  things  have  passed  away,  and,  behold,  all  things  have 
become  new."  The  things  he  once  loved  he  now  hates,  and 
the  things  he  once  hated  he  now  loves. 

The  word  "  create,"  when  used  to  describe  regeneration  or 
the  new  birth,  simply  means  the  production  of  a  new  character. 
Thus  God  says,  "  Behold,  I  create  Jerusalem  a  rejoicing,  and 
lier  people  a  joy."  He  has  given  her  people  to  understand  that 


ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  325 

he  would  bring  about  such  a  change  in  their  character  and  con- 
dition as  would  make  them  another  people  —  a  joy  and  a 
rejoicing,  instead  of  a  scandal  and  reproach. 

I  defy  any  man  to  tell  what  creation  there  is,  in  regeneration, 
other  than  the  constitution  of  a  new  character.  A  regenerate 
man  is,  in  his  moral  identity,  the  same  conscious  moral  agent ; 
but  in  his  character,  in  the  drift  of  his  affections,  pursuits,  and 
pleasures,  he  is  a  "  new  creature."  He  loves  new  objects,  is 
influenced  by  new  motives,  is  enlightened  by  new  views, 
delights  in  new  associations,  is  subject  to  new  laws,  rejoices  in 
new  joys,  and  is  inspired  by  new  hopes.  To  all  these  he  was 
once  dead,  but  now  he  is  alive.  His  heart  was  once  a  heart 
of  stone,  now  it  is  a  heart  of  flesh. 

The  governing  purpose  of  the  soul  is  changed  from  supreme 
love  of  self,  to  supreme  love  of  God.  It  is  now  in  harmony 
with  the  laws  of  God's  moral  government.  It  can  unite  in 
sympathy  and  accord  with  all  holy  beings  in  heaven  and  in 
earth  in  expressing  holy  impulses,  obeying  the  will  of  God, 
doing  good  to  his  fellows,  and  praising  God  and  the  Lamb. 
Once  self  reigned  supreme,  but  now  self  is  lost  in  God,  and 
God  in  the  soul  is  "  all  in  all." 

We  may  enumerate  the  elements  that  enter  into  and  consti- 
tute this  change  which  is  called  "  regeneration"  or  "  new  birth.1' 
First,  a  change  of  affections  ;  second,  of  purpose ;  third,  of 
sentiments ;  fourth,  of  views  and  feelings  ;  fifth,  of  all  our 
relations  to  God,  to  man,  to  the  world,  and  to  the  devil. 

III.  Our  third  inquiry  relates  to  the  manner  in  which  this 
change  is  brought  about.  How  is  it  produced? 

1.  I  remark,  negatively,  this  change  is  not  brought  about,  as 
some  suppose,  by  the  irresistible  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  I 
know  of  no  passage  in  the  Bible  whose  phraseology  requires  to 
be  construed  so  as  to  teach  the  doctrine  that  the  influences  of 
the  Spirit  cannot  be  resisted  ;  but  I  know  of  several  which  teach 
very  clearly  the  doctrine  that  they  can  be  resisted.  The  Savior 
said  to  the  Jews,  "  Ye  do  always  resist  the  Holy  Spirit ;  as  did 
your  fathers,  so  do  ye."  What  need  is  there  of  the  cautions 


326  SERMONS  BY 

against  quenching  and  grieving  the  Spirit,  if  the  Spirit  cannot 
be  resisted? 

One  writer  (Toplady,  I  think)  remarks  that  the  sinner  can 
"  no  more  resist  the  Holy  Spirit  than  he  can  resist  a  stroke  of 
lightning."  He,  like  all  those  who  have  taken  this  extreme 
view,  seems  to  have  overlooked  entirely  the  great  fact  of  the 
combination  of  the  divine  and  the  human  agency  in  the  act  of 
regeneration.  Those  who  hold  the  view  of  this  writer  suppose 
that  God  regenerates  men  by  the  use  of  arbitary  power. 

It  is  true  that  God  might  apply  hydraulic  or  steam  power  to 
man,  but  it  would  not  convert  him.  Nor  would  the  lightnings 
of  heaven,  nor  its  thunders,  convert  him.  Physical  exertion 
itself  is  no  more  adapted  to  move  mind,  than  moral  power  is  to 
move  matter.  But  who  would  thiuk  of  making  a  powerful 
speech,  eloquent  in  arguments,  illustrations,  and  pathos,  in 
order  to  knock  down  a  stone  wall,  or  to  start  the  sturdy  oak 
from  its  fastenings.  Yet  this  would  be  no  more  unreasonable 
or  absurd  than  to  think  of  turning  mind  by  physical  force. 

Mind  can  only  be  moved  by  motive — by  moral  considerations. 
Consequently  God  has  filled  the  Bible  with  motives  to  induce 
men  to  repent  and  serve  him.  Yea,  the  whole  world  is  teeming 
with  motives,  and  God  has  appointed  agencies,  in  all  periods, 
to  keep  these  motives  before  the  people  to  induce  them  to  break 
off  from  their  sins  and  turn  to  him.  Now  is  it  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  all  these  motives  are  to  be  dispensed  with  when  a 
soul  is  to  be  converted,  and  the  soul  is  to  be  wrenched  around 
by  merely  physical  power?  by  an  irresistible  force  that  makes 
no  appeal  to  the  moral  faculties  of  our  nature  ? 

Why  are  not  souls  converted  where  no  Bibles  are  circulated, 
no  gospel  preached,  or  where  no  motives  are  urged?  One 
error  always  leads  to  others.  Hence  those  who  believe  that 
men  are  converted  by  physical  force,  think  that  if  the  sinner 
can  resist  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  makes  him  stronger  than  the 
Almighty.  But  it  must  be  understood  that  in  a  moral  govern- 
ment the  weaker  can  resist  the  stronger.  Let  us  suppose  that 
we  wish  to  turn  an  inebriate  from  his  cups.  We  send  for 


ELDER   JACOB    KNAPP.  327 

John  B.  Gough  to  try  all  the  powers  of  his  mirthful  eloquence 
upon  him,  but  he  cannot  move  him.  We  try  the  skill  and 
moral  power  of  a  Spurgeon,  or  any  other  distinguished  speaker, 
in  order  to  bring  to  bear  upon  him  all  the  motives  drawn  from 
heaven,  earth,  and  hell,  to  induce  him  to  abandon  his  cups  ;  but 
none  of  all  these  appeals  can  move  him.  But  does  this  fact 
prove  that  this  inebriate  is  stronger  than  any  of  these  men,  or 
all  of  them  together?  No.  What,  then,  does  it  prove?  It 
proves  that  the  subject  upon  whom  they  have  plied  their  power 
was  so  debased,  so  much  under  the  power  of  his  cups,  that  he 
could  resist  all  arguments,  from  all  sources,  however  powerful. 
In  like  manner  the  sinner  is  so  depraved,  so  much  under  the 
control  of  the  love  and  power  of  sin,  that  he  can  resist  the 
Holy  Spirit ;  a  straw  will  carry  him  on  in  the  current  of  his 
own  debased  inclinations,  but  neither  the  pleadings  of  his  wife, 
the  eloquence  of  his  children,  the  arguments  of  the  minister,  the 
influence  of  the  Spirit,  the  hope  of  heaven,  or  the  fear  of  hell, 
will  induce  him  to  turn  ;  "  he  loves  darkness  rather  than  light, 
because  his  deeds  are  evil."  "  Ye  will  not  come  unto  me  that 
ye  might  have  life." 

2.  This  change  is  not  wrought  by  the  Spirit's  tucking  some- 
thing into  the  sinner,  back  of  his  will,  to  give  direction  to  it. 
This  would  take  all  obligation  to  repent  from  the  sinner,  until 
this  certain  something  was  put  within  him. 

But  it  is  said,  though  the  sinner  has  lost  his  ability  to  obey 
God,  that  God  has  not  lost  his  right  or  power  to  command.  I 
reply,  that  if  the  sinner  has  lost  his  ability  to  repent,  and  can- 
not repent  until  God  restores  that  ability,  then  the  sinner  is 
tinder  no  obligation  to  repent  without  a  capacity  to  do  so  ;  and 
God,  as  a  reasonable  being,  would  not  require  it.  It  would 
not  be  possible  to  make  an  intelligent  being  feel  guilty  for  not 
doing  that  which  was  out  of  his  power  to  do. 

Suppose  a  man  sent  his  servant  for  a  pitcher  of  water,  and 
that  the  servant,  from  mere  ugliness,  breaks  the  pitcher,  and 
thereby  incapacitates  himself  to  bring  the  water ;  would  the 
master  be  justifiable  in  demanding  the  water  unless  he  supply 


328  SERMONS  BY 

some  vessel  in  which  to  bring  it?  Sin-ely  not.  He  might  be 
justifiable  in  punishing  the  servant  for  breaking  the  pitcher,  but 
not  for  refusing  to  bring  the  water  when  it  was  out  of  his 
power  to  do  so.  So  God  might  punish  the  sinner  for  all 
violations  of  law ;  but  if  he  has  lost  his  capacity  to  repent  or 
believe,  or  to  come  to  Christ,  or  submit  to  God,  then  neither 
God  nor  any  reasonable  moral  agent  would  blame  him  for  not 
doing  so. 

But  this  capacity  is  not  lost.  Hence  God  commands  all  men 
everywhere  to  repent ;  and  their  guilt  in  not  believing  in  Christ, 
and  not  coming  to  God  through  him,  is  so  great,  that  it  is  the 
damning  sin  of  the  world.  It  casts  all  other  sins  into  the 
shade  ;  —  "of  sin,  because  ye  believe  not  in  me."  God  comes 
out  in  his  word  and  addresses  all  men  as  moral  agents  capable  of 
obeying  him,  and  pleads,  commands,  and  threatens  them  in  case 
they  do  not  obey. 

When  I  came  out  of  the  Institution  at  Hamilton,  N.  Y.,  in 
which  I  studied  theology  under  the  instruction  of  the  lamented 
Dr.  Nathaniel  Kendrick  (a  better  man  than  whom  seldom  lived), 
I  went  to  work  with  the  old  theory  of  physical  regeneration, 
and  would  often  come  in  contact  with  an  intelligent  man  who 
had  been  religiously  educated,  who  would  take  ground  like 
this  :  "  I  want  to  be  a  Christian  ;  I  desire  it  above  all  things  ; 
but  the  prayers  of  the  wicked  are  an  abomination  in  the  sight 
of  the  Lord ;  and  as  no  good  thing  can  come  out  of  a  bad 
heart,  I  cannot  repent  nor  believe  until  God  changes  my 
heart."  There  he  was,  waiting  for  God  to  come  and  convert 
or  regenerate  him.  I  could  not  meet  this  honest  and  intelligent 
inquirer  with  my  erroneous  views  of  the  new  birth.  Hence  I 
was  compelled  to  investigate,  analyze,  and  search  the  Scriptures 
more  critically,  until  the  subject  became  as  clear  as  a  sunbeam. 

3.  Nor  is  there  any  miracle  in  making  a  new  heart.  It  is 
mysterious,  and  to  us  incomprehensible ;  but  there  is  no 
suspension  or  counteraction  of  any  of  the  laws  of  nature.  God 
moves  upon  the  human  soul  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of 
mind,  and  in  accordance  with  the  distinctive  laws  of  each 


ELDER   JACOB   KNAPP.  329 

individual  mind,  and  makes  the  sinner  willing  —  not  able  —  in 
the  day  of  his  power.  The  will  surrenders,  the  heart  yields, 
the  conflict  ends,  sin  is  pardoned,  and  the  soul  is  saved. 

IV.    By  what  agencies  is  this  work  accomplished  ? 

We  answer,  "  The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say,  Come."  Nor  is 
the  agency  of  the  soul  itself  dispensed  with  in  a  single  instance. 
The  bride  embraces  the  whole  sacramental  host  of  God's  elect. 

The  ministers  of  the  gospel  are  commissioned  to  go  and  teach, 
i.  e.,  disciple,  or  convert,  all  nations.  Nor  are  they  sent  out 
alone.  This  one  agency  of  itself  would  not  be  sufficient  to  con- 
vert a  single  soul ;  hence  Christ  says,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you 
alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

The  sinner  is  so  dead  to  all  spiritual  things  that  man  cannot 
quicken  him  into  action  ;  so  blind  that  man  cannot  lead  him  to 
see  ;  hence  Christ  Jesus,  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  accompanies  the 
faithful  ambassador,  and  both  agencies  are  combined  ;  and  then 
the  sinner  is  required  to  use  his  agency  to  repent,  to  believe,  to 
come  to  Christ,  to  submit  to  God ;  and  without  this  repentance, 
this  receiving  of  Christ  by  faith,  this  exercising  of  his  own 
agency,  he  cannot  make  a  new  heart,  cannot  be  converted.  All 
these  agencies  are  employed  in  the  conversion  of  the  soul.  It 
is  proper,  therefore,  for  God  to  say,  in  the  language  of  my  text, 
"  Make  unto  you  a  new  heart ;  "  and  it  is  right  for  us  to  pray, 
"  Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  and  renew  a  right  spirit  with- 
in me."  Inasmuch  as  all  these  agencies  are  employed  in  the 
conversion  of  the  soul,  the  change  is  sometimes  ascribed  to  one 
of  them  and  sometimes  to  another. 

How  often  the  new  birth  is  ascribed  to  human  agency ! 
"  Whom  I  have  begotten  in  Christ  Jesus."  "  I  have  begotten 
you  through  the  gospel."  1  Cor.  iv.  15.  Paul  speaks  of  Timothy 
and  Onesimus  as  his  own  sons,  whom  he  had  begotten  ;  that  is, 
God  had  used  his  agency  in  begetting  and  giving  birth  to 
these  souls,  and  that,  too,  through,  or  by,  the  gospel,  as  the  in- 
strumentality. 

Conversion  is  sometimes  ascribed  to  the  agency  of  the  sin- 
ner himself.  "  Seeing  ye  have  purified  your  souls  in  obeying 
23 


330  SERMONS  BY 

the  truth."  1  Pet.  i.  22.  In  the  text  the  wicked  are  commanded 
to  make  unto  themselves  a  new  heart ;  and  all  the  directions  to 
repent,  to  turn,  to  believe,  to  submit,  to  come  to  Christ,  are 
proofs  positive  that  the  sinner's  agency  is  not  suspended  in  con- 
version—  that  his  eternal  destiny  turns  upon  his  will.  "Who- 
soever will,  let  him  come  unto  me  and  take  of  the  water  of 
life."  "  Ye  will  not  come  unto  me  that  ye  might  have  life." 
"  How  often  would  I  have  gathered  your  children  together,  but 
ye  would  not ! "  This  damning  will  not  keeps  millions  out  of 
heaven,  and  is  all  the  time  populating  hell. 

Then  this  change  is  still  more  frequently  ascribed  to  the 
Spirit,  because  the  agency  of  the  Spirit  is  more  prominent, 
more  efficacious,  than  all  the  other  agencies  put  together.  It  is 
not  possible  for  man  so  to  illumine  the  mind,  so  to  soften  the 
heart,  and  convince  of  sin,  as  to  bring  the  sinner  into  subjection 
to  the  divine  will.  It  is  not  possible,  without  the  influences  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  to  bring  all  the  motives  presented  in  the  word 
of  God  to  bear  with  sufficient  clearness  and  cogency  upon  tho 
heart  of  the  sinner  to  induce  a  full  surrender. 

Hence  the  Spirit  is  given  to  convince  "  of  sin,  of  righteous- 
ness, and  of  judgment  to  come."  Consequently  we  are  told 
of  the  "  washing  of  regeneration,  and  the  renewing  of  the  Holy 
Spirit."  "  Born  of  the  Spirit."  "  You  hath  he  quickened  who 
were  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins." 

Now,  to  harmonize  all  these  agencies,  and  make  the  subject 
perfectly  plain  to  all,  we  will  suppose  a  man  walking  along,  in  a 
dark  night,  upon  the  brink  of  a  precipice,  unconscious  of  his 
whereabouts  or  his  danger.  He  nears  the  verge  ;  it  is  five  hun- 
dred feet  to  the  bottom  :  just  as  he  raises  his  foot  to  step  off,  a 
voice  rings  along  the  abyss  and  breaks  upon  his  ear — "  STOP  ! " 
At  the  same  moment  a  man  opens  a  lantern,  and  pours  a  stream 
of  light  upon  his  path,  by  which  he  discovers  his  danger :  he 
springs  back,  and  is  saved. 

The  next  day  he  steps  into  a  store,  and  relates  his  marvellous 
escape,  and  says,  "  Just  as  I  was  taking  the  fatal  step,  a  light 
shone  upon  my  footsteps,  by  means  of  which  I  discovered  my 


ELDER  JACOB  KNAPP.  831 

danger,  and  I  was  saved.  Blessed  be  God  for  that  light." 
Here  he  ascribes  his  deliverance  to  the  light.  In  relating  the 
circumstance  to  another  person,  he  says,  "  Just  as  I  had  raised 
my  foot,  and  was  about  taking  the  fatal  step,  a  voice  broke  upon 
my  ear  — '  STOP,  STOP  ! '  Thank  God  for  that  word.  O,  how 
it  rings  in  my  ears  now  !  But  for  that  word  I  should  have  been  a 
dead  man."  Here  he  ascribes  his  deliverance  to  the  word  stop. 
The  neighborhood  is  excited,  and  keep  coming  in,  and  want  to 
hear  all  the  circumstances  over  again.  He  proceeds  to  repeat 
them  ;  when  he  comes  to  his  approach  to  the  very  verge  of  the 
precipice,  he  says,  "  My  left  foot  stood  on  the  edge  of  the  rock, 
and  as  I  had  raised  my  right  foot,  and  was  about  to  take  the 
fatal  step,  a  light  shone  on  my  path,  a  voice  cried  '  Stop  ! '  and 
I  sprang  back  in  an  instant.  I  had  well  nigh  lost  my  balance  ; 
but  if  I  did  not  use  the  muscles  and  springs  in  my  body  once, 
why  then  I  never  did ;  and  I  am  safe." 

Now,  that  sinners  all  stand  on  a  dangerous  precipice  is  cer- 
tain ;  and  it  is  equally  certain  that  they  are  not  conscious  of  their 
danger.  "  They  stand  on  slippery  rocks,  and  fiery  billows  roll 
below." 

The  man  of  God  lifts  his  warning  voice,  and  cries,  "  Stop  !  " 
The  Holy  Spirit  sheds  the  light  of  truth  upon  his  benighted 
mind,  and  shows  him  his  condition ;  but  all  this  will  not  save 
him  if  he  fails  to  put  forth  his  own  exertion ;  but  if  he  em- 
ploys his  own  agency  and  turns,  he  is  saved.  Now  it  is  obvi- 
ous that  he  saved  himself ;  it  is  equally  true  that  the  minister 
saved  him,  and  that  the  truth  saved  him,  and  his  salvation  is 
all  of  the  Lord.  God  furnished  the  truth,  commissioned  all  the 
agencies,  and  made  them  successful  by  the  illuminating  and  con- 
straining influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  God  says,  "  Make  you 
a  new  heart,  and  be  conscious  of  your  weakness  and  dependence." 
Cry  out,  "  Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  and  renew  a  right  spirit 
within  me." 

It  may  be  asked,  How  can  an  enemy  of  God,  a  hater  of 
holiness,  a  lover  of  sin,  on  this  principle  become  a  lover  of 
holiness,  a  hater  of  sin,  ajd  the  fast  friend  of  God?  I  answer, 


332  SERMONS  BY 

God,  by  all  the  agencies  and  instrumentalities  referred  to  above, 
leads  the  sinner  to  see  his  guilt  and  apprehend  his  danger ;  to 
discover  that  in  all  this  conflict  God  is  right,  and  that  he  is 
wrong ;  that  God  is  too  mighty  for  him  to  contend  with  and 
prosper.  He  may  stand  out  and  perish,  or  he  may  lay  down 
his  weapons,  and  surrender  all  into  God's  hands,  and  abide  his 
pleasure. 

When  sinners  make  this  surrender,  God  pardons.  They  now 
see  that  God  has  been  their  best  Friend  ;  has  only  opposed  them 
in  a  course  of  sin,  which  was  likely,  yea,  certain,  to  prove  their 
ruin ;  that  he  has  so  loved  them  as  to  give  his  only-begotten 
Son  to  die  for  them,  that  they  might  not  perish,  but  have  ever- 
lasting life.  They  love  him.  They  adore  him.  All  the  graces 
of  the  Christian  spring  up  in  the  soul.  They  are  new  creatures. 
This  is  conversion.  They  have  a  new  heart.  Take  an  illus- 
tration in  the  late  rebellion.  The  mass  of  the  Southern  people 
vindicated  slavery ;  almost  made  themselves  believe  that  it  was 
right.  They  hated  the  Northern  people,  because  they  opposed 
them  in  this  thing.  Their  opposition  and  enmity  to  the  North 
continued  to  increase  until  it  culminated  in  open  rebellion.  They 
took  up  arms,  and  went  into  the  terrible  conflict,  for  which  they 
were  not  equal.  At  length  they  found  that  they  must  surrender 
or  do  worse  :  they  laid  down  their  arms  ;  they  gave  themselves 
up  to  the  government  which  they  had  opposed,  and  some  of  them 
became  truly  penitent.  Many  of  this  latter  class  were  led  to  see 
that  slavery  was  a  system  of  iniquity  which  God  meant  to  over- 
throw, and  that  the  North  were  right,  and  that  they  were  wrong. 
Now,  where  this  conversion  was  thorough,  their  penitence  was 
genuine,  and  they  became  truly  loyal.  Every  man  at  the  North 
or  South,  or  the  world  over,  who  is  worthy  to  be  called  a  man, 
could  forgive  with  all  his  heart,  and  receive  them  to  his  bosom. 
It  would  be  perfectly  safe  to  pardon  all  such  persons,  and  re- 
store them  to  confidence  and  to  office  ;  and  the  more  these  once 
haters  of  the  government  and  its  policy  see  and  know  of  its 
clemency  and  uprightness,  the  willingness,  nay,  the  desire,  of 
our  lamented  President,  as  well  as  the  government  as  a  whole,  to 


ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP.  333 

show  them  all  the  mercy  and  favor  in  their  power,  Avith  safety 
to  the  country  at  large,  the  more  will  they  love  and  admire  the 
character  and  conduct  of  the  government.  But  we  must  bear 
in  mind  that  God's  character  and  government  are  perfect ;  all 
others  human,  and  consequently  imperfect ;  and  that  God  has 
done  infinitely  more  for  us  than  any  earthly  government  has 
done  or  can  do,  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  our  love  to  him  is 
supreme. 

REFLECTIONS. 

1.  This  view  of  conversion  makes  God  the  author  of  salva- 
tion, and  man  the  author  of  damnation. 

God  gave  his  Son  to  die  as  an  atonement  for  sin,  and  has 
furnished  all  the  motives  to  induce  men  to  repent,  and  called 
and  commissioned  all  the  agencies  of  men  and  angels  to  keep 
these  motives  before  the  people,  and  has  given  the  Holy  Spirit  - 
to  make  these  motives  effectual.  And  if  they  turn  and  live,  God 
has  turned  them ;  and  if  saved,  God  has  saved  them ;  and  be- 
cause the  sinner  turns  voluntarily,  and  accepts  the  gospel,  he 
merits  nothing,  any  more  than  a  starving  man  merits  something 
because  he  eats  voluntarily  when  his  benefactor  sets  food  before 
him,  and  invites  him  to  eat  without  money  and  without  price  ; 
or  than  does  the  condemned  prisoner  merit  his  freedom  because 
he  accepts  the  pardon  when  offered  to  him. 

On  the  other  hand,  man  is  responsible  for  his  destruction. 
He  is  not  lost  because  he  was  brought  into  the  world  with  a 
sinful  nature,  nor  because  God  did  not  take  him  by  physical 
force  and  wrench  him  around,  but  because  he  wilfully  rejected 
the  offer  of  pardon  ;  because  he  neglected  the  great  salvation  ; 
because  he  stood  up  against  all  the  motives  and  all  the  agencies 
employed  by  God  to  save  him.  After  God  had  provided  the 
feast,  and  given  out  the  invitation,  he  made  light  of  it,  and  is 
lost ;  not,  I  say,  because  he  is  a  sinner,  but  because  he  rejected 
the  Friend  and  Savior  of  sinners. 

2.  This  theory  of  conversion  is  as  much  more  beautiful  than 
the  old  theory,  and  reflects  as  much  more  glory  upon  Deity,  as 


834  SERMONS   BY  ELDER  JACOB   KNAPP. 

a  moral  government  is  superior  to  that  government  which  con- 
trols the  material  world,  or  as  mind  is  superior  to  matter.  If 
mind  were  controlled  by  force,  there  would  be  no  more  happi- 
ness or  worth  in  serving  God,  than  the  water-wheel  experiences 
or  possesses  when  it  yields  to  the  hydraulic  power,  or  the  grind- 
stone when  turning  under  the  pressure  of  the  crank.  Nor 
would  the  praises  of  the  millions  on  earth  and  in  heaven  reflect 
any  more  glory  upon  God  than  the  millions  of  worlds  by  which 
he  is  surrounded. 

3.  This  view  of  the  subject  strikes  sceptics  dumb,  and  knocks 
out  the  underpinning  of  Universalism. 

The  old  theory  represents  God  as  an  arbitrary  being,  saving 
one  because  it  is  his  pleasure  to  do  so,  and  damning  another 
for  the  same  reason,  without  any  regard  to  their  character  or 
conduct.  This  view  of  the  subject  represents  him  as  a  kind  and 
merciful  Father,  delighting  not  in  the  death  of  him  that  dieth, 
but  doing  all  that  can  be  done,  upon  the  principles  of  a  moral 
government,  to  save  all,  and  as  sending  the  wicked  into  hell 
because  they  cannot  be  reformed,  because  they  will  not  come  to 
Christ,  that  they  might  have  life. 

It  seems  as  if  almost  any  person  of  ordinary  capacities  could 
not  help  seeing  the  absurdity  of  the  distinction  between  the 
saved  and  the  lost,  if  this  distinction  arises  not  from  their  char- 
acterxbut  from  the  arbitrary  pleasure  of  Deity.  And  when  this 
sentiment  is  taught,  the  Universalist  concludes  that  if  the  salva- 
tion of  any  turns  upon  the  arbitrary  pleasure  of  God,  without 
any  regard  to  character  or  conduct,  it  will  be  the  pleasure  of 
God  to  save  all,  and  that  all  will  be  saved.  But  when  they  are 
led  to  see  that  man  is  a  moral  agent,  accountable  for  every 
action,  capable  of  obeying  or  of  disobeying  God,  and  that  he 
cannot  be  forced  into  subjection,  but  must  turn  voluntarily, 
and  that  the  only  reason  why  they  are  not  saved  is  because  they 
will  not  be  saved,  because  they  will  not  submit  to  the  only 
terms  upon  which  it  is  possible  for  them  to  be  saved,  they  are 
speechless.  Their  underpinning  gives  way,  and  they  must 
settle  down  upon  the  Rock  of  Ages,  or  go  down  amid  the  sink- 
ing sands,  and  confess  that  their  damnation  is  just. 


APPENDIX. 


STATISTICAL  RESULTS  OF  ELDER  KNAPPS  LABORS  IN 
MASSACHUSETTS.* 

THE  following  examination  and  calculations  on  the  results  of  the  labors 
of  Elder  JACOB  KNAPP,  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  were  made  in  the 
autumn  of  1846 ;  at  which  time  there  seemed  to  prevail  a  general  im- 
pression, at  least  in  the  Baptist  denomination,  that  the  effects  of  his  labors 
with  the  churches  were  anything  but  salutary.  The  pulpit  and  the  press 
proclaimed  the  "disastrous  results," — such  as  "spurious  converts," 
"excommunications,"  "unsettling  ministers,"  "dividing  churches,"  and 
the  like.  The  spirit  so  prevailed  with  the  clergy,  that  it  was  rare  to  hear 
an  occasional  sermon  or  an  addresser  even  a  Sabbath  school  essay^  but 
it  would  contain  a  direct  or  indirect  missile  at  "  the  revival,"  or  its 
"  measures."  We  conscientiously  believe  ministers  and  writers  were 
not  aware  to  what  extent  their  minds  were  led  by  the  spirit  of  the 
times. 

While  these  things  were  thus  passing,  it  occurred  to  us,  "  Is  it  so  ?  " 
Are  these  statements  and  representations  facts,  or  are  they  spectres  of 
the  imagination?  Instead,  therefore,  of  following  the  multitude,  and 
crying,  "  Away  with  such  a  fellow  from  the  earth,"  we  quietly  retired 
to  our  domicile,  and  examined  our  documents  carefully,  "  whether  these 
things  were  so."  And  we  are  compelled  to  say,  we  were  surprised  at 
the  results.  We  found  our  own  mind  had  been  borne  away  by  the  tide 
of  public  influence  to  an  extent  we  could  hardly  have  believed. 

Our  examinations  then  extended  to  four  years  inclusive ;  commencing 
with  the  Associational  year  of  the  Evangelist's  labors  in  each  church ; 

*  An  Examination  of  the  Comparative  Statistical  Results  of  the  Labors  of  Elder 
Jacob  Knapp  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts.  By  A.  WILBUR.  Boston.  1855. 

(335) 


3-36  APPENDIX. 

including  that  and  the  three  successive  years.  The  following  was  the 
result :  — 

Mr.  Knapp  commenced  his  labors  in  Massachusetts  with  the  Baptist 
church  in  New  Bedford,  in  the  Taunton  Association,  in  the  summer  of 
1841.  That  church,  during  the  four  consecutive  years,  baptized  262, 
and  excommunicated  in  the  same  time  28,  or  about  10£  per  cent,  on  her 
baptisms.  All  the  other  churches  in  that  Association,  taken  together, 
in  the  same  four  years,  baptized  488,  and  excommunicated  105,  or 
nearly  22  per  cent,  on  their  baptisms. 

At  the  end  of  the  four  years,  the  church  in  New  Bedford  had  gained 
in  numerical  strength  205,  or  80J  per  cent,  on  her  former  number.  All 
the  other  churches  in  the  Association  had  gained  in  the  same  time  284, 
or  18^  per  cent,  on  their  former  number. 

The  church  in  New  Bedford,  separately,  and  the  other  churches,  col- 
lectively, have  excluded  annually  about  an  equal  proportion,  compared 
with  their  numbers,  viz.,  averaging  about  l£  per  cent,  on  their  whole 
number. 

His  next  labors  in  the  state  were  in  the  Boston  Association.  Here 
they  were  mostly  confined  to  five  churches  in  the  city  of  Boston.  Two 
of  the  city  churches  did  not  invite  him  into  their  pulpits.  One  of  these, 
with  its  pastor,  was  decidedly  unfriendly  to  the  whole  movement,  from 
beginning  to  end. 

Those  five  churches  where  Mr.  Knapp  labored,  baptized,  during  the 
four  years,  1054  persons,  and  excommunicated  158,  or  15  per  cent,  on 
their  baptisms. 

All  the  other  churches  in  the  Boston  Association,  taken  together,  bap- 
tized in  the  same  time  1775,  and  excluded  336,  or  nearly  19  per  cent,  on 
their  baptisms. 

The  two  churches  in  the  city  where  Mr.  Knapp  did  not  labor,  baptized 
122,  and  excluded  36,  or  29  per  cent,  on  their  baptisms. 

The  church  that  was  unfavorable,  and  took  no  interest  in  the  move- 
ment, baptized  22,  excluded  12,  or  54i  per  cent,  on  her  baptisms.  All 
these  churches,  thus  separately  classed,  have  excommunicated,  on  an 
average,  annually,  within  a  fraction  of  li  per  cent,  on  their  whole 
numbers. 

The  five  churches  where  the  Evangelist  labored  have  gained  in  nu- 
merical strength  in  the  four  years  904  members,  or  51  per  cent.  All 
the  others  in  the  Association,  together,  have  gained  670,  or  a  little  over 
13-i  per  cent. 

The  two  churches  in  the  city,  above  named,  taken  separate,  in  the 
same  time  have  lost  in  number  72,  or  8|  per  cent,  on  their  former 
numbers. 

The  next  labors  of  this  Evangelist  in  the  state  were  in  the  Salem 


APPENDIX.  337 

Association.  Here  also  they  were  mostly  had  with  five  churches,  viz., 
three  in  Lowell,  the  Second  Church  in  Salem,  and  the  church  in  Mar- 
blehead ;  although  Ms  labors  in  Marblehead  were  small  compared  with 
those  of  the  other  four  churches.  These  five  churches,  during  four 
years,  commencing  with  the  year  of  his  labors,  baptized  817,  and  ex- 
cluded 143,  or  a  little  over  17  per  cent,  on  then*  baptisms. 

All  the  other  churches  in  that  Association  in  the  same  time  baptized 
669,  and  excommunicated  207,  or  31  per  cent,  on  their  baptisms.  These 
five  churches  also  have  excluded  annually,  on  an  average,  about  1J  per 
cent,  on  their  whole  numbers.  The  other  churches  a  mere  fraction  over. 

The  five  churches  have  gained  in  the  four  years  608  members,  or  26 
per  cent.  The  other  churches  gained  in  the  same  tune  198,  or  a  frac- 
tion less  than  6  per  cent. 

These  examinations,  aa  before  said,  were  made  after  the  close  of  the  four 
years ;  and  they  show  to  every  candid  mind,  that  the  constantly  reiter- 
ated complaints  of  "  spurious  converts,"  "  numerous  exclusions,"  &c., 
having  reference  to  the  Evangelist's  labors,  were  without  a  shadow  of 
foundation.  But,  on  the  contrary,  the  churches  where  he  did  not  labor 
excluded  many  more,  in  comparison  with  their  receptions,  than  those  with 
whom  he  did,  and  each  class  about  an  equal  proportion  to  their  whole 
numbers. 

We  stated  these  facts,  at  the  time,  to  several  brethren,  who  said  the 
public  ought  to  have  them ;  and  at  one  time  we  fully  concluded  to  pub- 
lish them,  but  were  deterred  for  reasons  that  will  be  given  hereafter. 

A  few  months  since,  a  friend,  who  learned  we  had  some  facts  relating 
to  Mr.  Knapp's  labors,  asked  the  loan  of  them.  Our  attention  being 
thus  again  called  to  the  subject,  we  concluded  to  extend  the  comparison 
throughout  the  state ;  and  although  the  examination  absorbed  more  time 
than  we  knew  how  to  spare,  yet  we  pursued  it,  and  arrived  at  the  follow- 
ing results :  — 

It  will  be  remembered  Mr.  Knapp  labored  with  eleven  churches  in 
this  state ;  one  in  the  Taunton  Association,  five  in  the  Boston,  and  five 
in  the  Salem  Associations.  The  results  of  these  labors  were  reported 
in  three  Associations!  years,  viz.,  1841,  '42,  and  '43.  In  making  up  the 
aggregate  of  baptisms,  &c.,  of  the  other  churches  in  the  state,  the  inter- 
mediate year  of  1842  is  taken  as  the  year  of  commencement. 

The  eleven  churches,  then,  where  he  labored,  commencing  in  these 
churches  with  the  year  of  his  labors,  —  as  will  be  seen  above,  —  baptized 
in  four  years  2133,  and  excluded  329,  or  a  little  over  15  per  cent,  on 
their  baptisms.  All  the  other  churches  in  the  state,  taken  together, 
baptized  in  the  same  time  6746,  and  excommunicated  1578,  or  23J  per 
cent,  on  their  baptisms. 

Having  recently  showed  the  above  to  a  brother,  he  suggested  the  ide» 


338  APPENDIX. 

of  extending  the  comparison  still  farther.  Wishing  to  make  our  exam- 
inations as  satisfactory  and  conclusive  as  possible,  we  concluded  to  con- 
tinue them  for  four  years  more,  so  as  to  include  eight  years ;  supposing 
any  further  calculations  would  be  needless,  as  all  influences  for  good  or 
for  evil  would  not  extend  beyond  this. 

In  the  eight  years  there  had  been  added  to  the  Associations  in  the 
state  42  churches,  containing  3394  members.  These  are  mostly  new 
churches ;  some  few  are  churches  of  some  years'  existence,  but  have 
recently  united  with  the  Associations.  These  42  churches  are  not  in- 
cluded in  the  following  calculations,  — only  the  churches  which  existed 
at  the  commencement  of  1842.  The  propriety  of  this  will  be  seen  when 
it  is  remembered  these  new  churches  are  made  up  from  all  the  churches 
in  the  state,  assisted  in  some  instances  by  members  from  other  states ; 
and  if  their  statistics  were  included,  their  whole  influence  would  be 
thrown  on  the  side  of  the  churches  in  the  state  in  1842.  Leaving  out 
the  new  churches,  and  deducting  the  eleven  in  which  the  Evangelist 
labored,  there  remained  in  the  state,  at  the  commencement  of  1842,  193 
churches.  Between  these  and  the  eleven  the  comparison  is  made. 

We  find  then,  in  eight  years  inclusive,  the  eleven  churches  baptized 
2625,  and  excommunicated  613,  or  23  per  cent,  on  their  baptisms.  The 
193  other  churches  in  the  state,  in  the  same  time,  baptized  8673,  and 
excommunicated  2456,  or  28J  per  cent,  on  their  baptisms.  The  original 
number  in  the  eleven  churches  was  3984.  They  had  gained  in  the  eight 
years  1266,  or  nearly  31  per  cent. 

The  original  number  in  the  193  churches  was  21,432.  They  had  gained 
in  eight  years  254,  or  a  little  more  than  1  per  cent. 

This  discrepancy  of  gain  being  so  great,  it  occurred  to  us,  perhaps  the 
193  churches  had  been  more  largely  drawn  upon  to  form  new  churches. 
So,  again,  we  betook  ourselves  to  the  task  of  examining  the  dismissions, 
and  found  the  following  result :  — 

The  eleven  churches,  in  the  eight  years,  have  dismissed  to  other 
churches,  and  to  form  new  ones,  1543  members,  or  nearly  33i  per  cent. 
on  their  average  numbers. 

The  other  churches  in  the  same  time  have  dismissed  6403,  or  nearly 
30  per  cent,  on  their  average  numbers. 

So  we  found  the  eleven  churches  had  done  their  full  share,  according 
to  their  numbers,  in  contributing  in  membership  to  build  new  churches. 

We  have  given  the  facts ;  let  them  speak  for  themselves.  They  have 
been  gathered  from  official  documents,  examined  and  compared  with 
much  care  and  labor,  and,  we  think,  may  be  relied  on. 

Any  way  one  may  look  at  the  eleven  churches,  compared  with  the 
others,  either  of  their  Associations  or  of  the  whole  state,  they  show 
themselves  on  the  advantage  ground. 


APPENDIX.  839 

Now,  suppose  the  result  to  have  proved  just  the  reverse,  —  us  has 
been  represented,  and  is  to  this  day  supposed  to  be  the  fact  by  the  com- 
munity. "We  say,  suppose  these  eleven  churches  had  appeared  com- 
paratively to  as  great  disadvantage  as  they  do  to  advantage ;  what  might, 
with  propriety,  — nay,  what  would  be  said?  We  offer  no  comments. 

But,  it  will  be  asked  by  some,  why  bring  these  things  out  at  this  late 
period  ?  —  (and  we  shall  look  for  censure  from  a  certain  class)  —  why 
were  they  not  given  to  the  public  while  the  subject  was  before  the  peo- 
ple's mind  ?  To  this  we  answer,  first,  as  before  said,  when  the  examina- 
tion of  the  first  four  years  was  finished,  we  showed  the  results  to  several 
brethren,  who  strongly  advised  to  publish  them.  We  concluded  to  do 
BO,  but  took  occasion  to  show  them  to  two  brethren  who  were  unfriendly 
to  the  revival  movement,  and  spared  not  to  speak  against  it.  We  chose 
to  see  what  effect  it  would  have. 

After  carefully  reading  our  document  through,  they  handed  it  back, 
saying,  "Well,  what  of  all  that?  IT  PROVES  NOTHING.  If  they  (the  con- 
verts) are  not  excluded,  there  are  hundreds  who  ought  to  be." 

It  appeared  to  have  no  effect  to  suggest  to  their  minds  the  possibility 
that  they  might  be  in  an  error.  We  were  convinced  that  the  public 
mind  generally,  at  least  in  our  denomination,  was  BO  fixed,  that  evidence 
on  this  subject,  however  conclusive,  had  lost  its  power. 

Second,  our  attention  has  recently  been  called  to  the  subject,  as  we 
said,  It  was  again  suggested  that  "  these  facts  ought  to  be  given  to  the 
public."  We  concluded  also  that  the  public  mind,  generally  (not  in  all 
cases),  is  now  so  unbiassed  that  men  can  look  at  facts  impartially,  and 
give  them  their  due  weight. 

Another  incentive  to  publish  was,  that  probably  these  lines  would  fall 
into  the  hands  of  many  desponding  disciples,  who,  for  some  years  past, 
have  been  exercised  somewhat  as  probably  most  of  Christ's  numerous 
disciples  were,  when  the  news  spread  over  Palestine  that  "  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  was  crucified."  Their  meditations  have  been,  "  What  did  all 
this  mean  ?  "  "  We  verily  thought  we  were  exercised  by  true  religion." 
"  If  this  is  spurious,  is  not  all  religion  spurious?  "  "  If  these  converts 
are  mostly  spurious  converts,  am  not  I  such  ?  and  are  not  all  such  ?  "  — 
or  "  Where  is  the  evidence  of  the  true?  "  and  the  like.  We  met  with 
many  such,  and  endeavored  to  comfort  them,  by  assuring  them  that  the 
generally  received  reports  concerning  those  revivals  were  not  true,  and 
that,  so  far  as  our  knowledge  extended,  the  converts  of  those  revivals 
were,  considering  their  numbers,  as  true  and  lasting  as  any  converts  of 
any  revival  we  ever  witnessed.  We  have  sometimes  thought,  perhaps, 
for  the  sake  of  such  disciples,  it  was  a  mistake  not  to  have  published 
before. 


APPENDIX. 

We  will  now  propose  a  question  to  the  reader  of  this  pamphlet  in 
Massachusetts. 

Admitting  that  the  revivals  in  1841  and  184:2  were  as  really  the  genu- 
ine operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  have  been  any  revivals  since  the 
apostles'  days,  and  let  the  same  course  be  pursued  as  was  pursued  by 
the  ministry,  the  press,  and  the  laity,  towards  the  means,  the  measures, 
and  the  converts ;  might  we  not  reasonably  suppose  it  would  legitimately 
produce  precisely  the  state  of  things  in  the  churches  as  was  found  in 
1844,  '45,  and '46? 

There  is  something  unaccountable  in  men,  good  men,  pious  men,  with 
reference  to  evidence  of  the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  No  matter 
how  judicious,  candid,  or  pious  (or  all  of  these  combined)  a  man  may 
be,  and  no  matter  how  the  Spirit  may  be  operating, — if  from  any  cause 
his  mind  happen  to  take  a  turn  against  those  operations,  there  seems  to 
come  over  him  a  moral  mist  or  darkness  that  wholly  disables  him  to 
receive  evidence  in  favor  of  the  Spirit's  power.  Evidence  that  would 
be  abundant  and  conclusive  in  any  other  case,  is  no  evidence  in  this ;  or 
it  is  sometimes  perverted,  and  becomes  evidence  against  instead  of  in 
favor.  We  think  we  have  observed  this  in  many  instances  in  the  course 
of  our  pilgrimage,  and  in  several  have  detected  it  in  ourself.  Never 
have  we  seen  this  indefinable,  —  what  shall  we  call  it?  —  delusive  mys- 
ticism !  no,  that  does  not  convey  our  idea ;  and  we  know  no  words  in 
our  circumscribed  vocabulary  that  will.  It  is  an  indescribable  some- 
thing that  comes  over  the  mind  and  perverts  the  judgment  on  this  par- 
ticular subject,  and  affects  no  other.  We  say,  we  never  saw  it  prevail 
in  our  denomination  as  it  did  in  1844,  '45,  and  '46,  in  regard  to. the  re- 
vivals of  1842.  Inferences  were  drawn  from  false  premises,  and  given 
forth  to  the  public  as  true.  Statements  were  made,  and  sent  out,  directly 
contrary  to  facts.  Reports,  almost  innumerable,  were  circulated,  which 
had  no  shadow  of  foundation ;  and  some  of  the  above  were  from  good, 
well-meaning  men,  who  intended  no  misrepresentation,  but  verily  thought 
they  spoke  and  wrote  truth.  Our  charity  for  the  Jewish  Council  which 
sat  in  Jerusalem  in  the  year  29,  with  Caiaphas  in  the  chair,  was  enlarged 
fifty  per  cent. ;  and  never  before  did  we  so  fully  understand  the  spirit 
of  that  prayer,  "Father,  forgive  them;  they  know  not  what  they  do." 
It  would  be  endless  and  useless  to  revert  to  these  statements  and  rumors, 
and  then  show  their  unreliableness ;  but  for  the  sake  of  showing  how 
easily  a  good  man  may  slide  into  an  error,  and  unintentionally  misstate 
things,  perhaps  we  may  be  permitted  to  name  one  fact. 

In  1844  (it  might  have  been  in  '45),  a  pastor  in  this  city  wrote  to  a 
distant  body,  that  the  people  of  his  charge  "  had  so  lost  their  confidence 
in  him  (Mr.  Knapp),  that  not  twenty  of  his  church  would  hear  him 
preach  unless  he  was  a  reformed  man."  We  heard  that  such  had  been 


APPENDIX.  341 

written.  It  so  happened,  a  short  time  after  this,  Mr.  Knapp  was  to 
preach  on  a  Sabbath  evening  in  the  Tremont  Temple ;  we  attended  the 
lecture,  and  sat  on  the  side  of  the  hall,  where  we  could  see  to  reccgnize 
about  half  of  the  congregation ;  and  seeing  quite  a  number  present  from 
that  church,  we  had  the  curiosity  to  count  them,  and  we  saw  fifty-two 
from  that  church  whom  we  knew.  As  the  congregation  was  passing 
out,  a  prominent  member  of  that  church  came  by,  whom  we  asked  if 
there  were  not  more  than  twenty  members  of  his  church  present.  "  Yes," 
said  he,  "  more  than  a  hundred."  And  we  verily  believe  he  spoke  the 
truth. 

We  have  named  this  circumstance  only  to  show  facts.  We  well  know 
that  pastor,  and  will  say  no  one  holds  a  higher  place  in  our  Christian 
affection  than  he.  Further,  we  are  ready  to  bear  testimony  that  he  will 
not  intentionally  misrepresent.  But  such  was  the  general  impression, 
and  he  imbibed  it  so  strongly  that  he  felt  assured  he  stated  the  truth. 

May  we  venture  an  opinion?  —  and  whether  correct  or  not,  we  are 
confident  it  would  be  supported  by  a  large  proportion  of  that  church. 
Our  opinion  is,  that  there  has  not  been  a  time  since  he  labored  in  Bos- 
ton, that  any  other  man  in  the  United  States  could  call  together  a  greater 
number  of  that  church,  to  hear  a  sermon,  than  Mr.  KNAPP. 


STANDARD  AND   MISCELLANEOUS   BOOKS.  7 

& 

Classical  Manual.  By  JAMES  S.  S.  BAIKD, 
F.C.D.    One  vol.,  16mo.    Price,  cloth,  90  cte. 

It  is  an  epitome  of  Aacient  Geography,  Greek  and  Roman 
Mythology,  Antiquitit^  and  Chronology. 

Croquet  as  played  jj  "The  Newport  Croquet 
Club."  By  ONB,  OF  THE  MEMBERS.  16mo.  Price, 
paper,  25  cts. ;  cloth,  50  cts. 

"  This  manual  is  the  only  one  which  really  grapples  with 
a  difficult  case,  and  deals  with  it  as  if  heaven  and  earth 
depended  on  the  adjudication." — Atlantic  Monthly. 

Jlelps  to  the  ^Pulpit.  Sketches  and  Skeletons  of 
Sermons.  One  vol.,  large  12mo.  Price,  $2.00. 

"Here  is  a  work  that  may  be  a  help  by  its  proper  use,  or  a 
hindrance  by  its  abuse." — Christian  Messenger. 

Pulpit  Themes  and  Preacher's  Assistant. 

By  the  author  of  "  Helps  to  the  Pulpit."    One  voL, 
large  12mo.    Price,  $2.00. 

"  We  have  no  doubt  but  that  it  will  be  a  welcome  book  to 
every  candidate  for  the  ministry,  and  also  to  pastors  in  almost 
every  congregation." — Lutheran  Herald. 

A  Text-33oofc  of  the  ITistory  of  Christian 
^Doctrines.  By  K.  E.  HAGENBACH,  Professor  of 
Theology  in  the  University  of  Basle.  The  Edin- 
burgh translation  of  C.  W.  Buch,  revised,  with 
large  Additions  from  the  fourth  German  Edition, 
and  other  sources,  by  HENBY  B.  SMITH,  D.D.,  Pro- 
fessor in  the  Union  Theological  Seminary  of  the 
City  of  New  York.  Two  vols.,  octavo.  Price, 
cloth,  $6.00. 

"  It  exceeds,  in  point  of  completeness,  every  other  treatise, 
English  as  well  as  German,  and  we  have,  therefore,  no  hesi- 
tation in  calling  it  the  most  perfect  manual  of  the  History  of 
Christian  Doctrines  which  Protestant  literature  has  as  yet 
produced." — Methodist,  N.  T. 


SHELDON   4   COMPANY'S 


jBibtical  Commentary  on  the  New  Testament. 
By  Dr.  HEBMAKH  OLSHAUSEN.  Continued  after  his 
death  by  Ebrard  and  Wiesinger.  Carefully  revised, 
after  the  last  German  Edition,  by  A,  C.  KZXDEICS, 
D.D.,  Greek  Professor  in  the  University  of  Koch- 
ester.  Sis  vols.,  large  octavo.  Price,  cloth,  $18.00. 

"  I  regard  the  Commentary  as  the  most  valuable  of  those 
on  the  New  Testament  in  the  TgngHah  language,  happily 
combining  the  religious  spirit  of  the  English  expositors  with 
the  critical  learning  of  the  German.  The  American  editor 
has  evidently  performed  his  task  well,  as  might  be  expected 
from  his  eminent  qualifications." — President  Seart,  of  Brown 
University. 

The  Annotated  Paragraph  JBibte.  According 
to  the  authorized  version,  arranged  in  Paragraphs 

and  Parallelisms,  with  Explanatory  Notes,  Prefaces 
to  the  several  Books,  and  an  entirely  new  Selection 
of  References  to  Parallel  and  Illustrative  Passages. 
An  issue  of  the  London  Religious  Tract  Society,— 
republished.  Complete  in  one  royal  octavo  volume, 
with  Maps,  &c.  Price,  library  sheep,  $8.00. 

2%e  Annotated  Paragraph  New  Testament* 
In  one  octavo  volume,  uniform  style.  Price,  mus- 
lin, $2.50. 

••  I  have  carefully  examined  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
work,  and  consider  it  eminently  adapted  to  increase  and  dif- 
fuse a  knowledge  of  the  Word  of  God.  I  heartily  recommend 
it  to  Christians  of  every  denomination,  and  especially  to 
teachers  of  Bible  Classes  and  Sabbath  Schools,  to  whom  it 
will  prove  an  invaluable  aid." — -Rev.  Dr.  Wayland. 

2°ho?uc&  on  the  Gospel  of  John.  Translated  by 
CHAELES  J.  KP.AUTH,  D.D.  One  vol.,  octavo.  Price, 
$3.00. 

"  We  hail  with  much  pleasure  the  appearance  of  Kraath's 
translation  of  '  Tholuck  on  the  Gospel  of  John.'  We  trust 
the  work,  in  this  its  English  dress,  will  find  a  wide  circula- 
tion."— BOblwthcea  Sacra. 


STANDARD   AND   MISCELLANEOUS   BOOKS.  0 

Neander's  ^Planting  and  Training  of  the 
Christian  Church  by  the  Apostles.  Trans- 
lated from  the  German  by  J.  E.  RYLAND.  Trans- 
lation revised  and  corrected  according  to  the  fourth 
German  edition.  By  E.  G.  ROBINSON,  D.D.,  Pro- 
fessor in  the  Rochester  Theological  Seminary.  One 
vol.,  octavo,  cloth.  Price,  $4.00. 

"The  patient  scholarship,  the  critical  sagacity,  and  the 
simple  and  unaffected  piety  of  the  author,  are  manifest 
throughout.  Such  a  history  should  find  a  place  in  the  library 
of  every  one  who  seeks  a  familiar  knowledge  of  the  early 
shaping  of  the  Christian  Churches.  An  excellent  index  adds 
to  its  value." — Evangelist. 

Ziible  Illustrations.  Being  a  Store-house  of  Simi- 
lies,  Allegories,  and  Anecdotes — with  an  introduc- 
tion by  RICHARD  NEWTON,  D.D.  One  vol.,  12mo. 
Price,  $1.50.  Every  Sabbath  School  teacher  should 
have  this  book. 

"  It  is  impossible  not  to  commend  a  book  like  this." — Ed- 
itor of  Encyc.  of  Religious  Knowledge. 

"  We  think  that  Sabbath  School  teachers  especially  would 
be  profited  by  reading  it ;  and  many  of  the  anecdotes  will 
help  to  point  the  arrow  of  the  preacher." — Christian  Herald. 


SPURGEON'S  WORKS. 

Sermons  of  the  Her.  C.  IT.  Spurgion,  of  Lon- 
don, in  uniform  styles  of  binding. 

First  Series.  With  an  Introduction  and  Sketch  of  his  Life,  by 
the  Rev.  E.  L.  MAGOON,  D.D.  With  a  fine  steel-plate  Por- 
trait. One  vol.,  12mo.,  pp.  400.  Price,  $1.50. 

Second  Series.  Revised  by  the  Author,  and  published  with 
his  sanction.  Containing  a  new  steel-plate  Portrait,  engraved 
expressly  for  the  volume.  Price,  $1.50. 

Third  Series.  Revised  by  the  Author,  and  published  with  his 
sanction.  Containing  a  steel-plate  view  of  Surrey  Music 
Hall,  London,  engraved  expressly  for  the  volume.  Price,  $1.50. 


10  SHELDON   &   COMPANY'S 

SPURGEON'S   WORKS.-Continued. 

fourth  Seines.  Revised  by  the  Author,  and  published  with 
his  sanction.  Containing  twenty-six  Sermons,  pp.  450. 
Price,  $1.50. 

Fifth  Series.  Revised  by  the  Author,  and  published  with  his 
sanction.  Illustrated  with  a  fine  steel  plate  representing  the 
Rev.  C.  H.  Spurgeon  preaching  in  Surrey  Music  HalL  One 
vol.,  12mo.  Price,  $1.50. 

Sixth  Series.  Revised  by  the  Author,  and  published  with  his 
sanction.  Illustrated  with  a  fine  steel  plate  of  Mr.  Spurgeon's 
new  Tabernacle.  One  vol.,  12mo.  Price,  $1.50. 

Seventh  Series.  Containing  some  of  Mr.  Spurgeon's  later  and 
more  brilliant  Sermons.  One  vol.,  12mo.  Price,  $1.50. 

Eighth  Series.  Containing  Spurgeon's  celebrated  Doctrinal 
Discourses,  which  made  a  most  profound  impression  through- 
out England.  One  vol.,  12mo.,  cloth.  Price,  $1.50. 

Morning  by  Morning,  or  1)ai2y  Bible  lead- 
ings. By  Rev.  C.  H.  SPUBGEON.  One  vol.,  12mo. 
Price,  $1.75. 

"  Though  no  printed  sermon  can  give  a  perfect  representa- 
tion of  the  same  thing  spoken  by  an  eloquent  and  impas- 
sioned orator,  yet  the  reader  of  these  will  not  wonder  at  their 
author's  popularity.  Though  he  may  not  sympathize  with 
Mr.  Spurgeon's  theological  opinions,  he  can  not  fail  to  see 
that  the  preacher  is  really  in  earnest,  that  he  heartily  believes 
what  he  says,  and  knows  how  to  say  it  in  a  way  to  arouse 
and  keep  alive  the  attention  of  his  hearers." — Boston  Adver- 
tiser. 

The  Saint  and  JSTis  Saviour.  By  the  Kev.  C.  H. 
SPUBGEON.  One  vol.,  12mo.  Price,  $1.50. 

This  is  the  first  extended  religious  work  by  this  distin- 
guished preacher,  and  one  which  in  its  fervid  devotional 
spirit,  the  richness  of  its  sentiments,  and  the  beauty  of  its 
imagery,  fully  sustains  his  high  reputation.. 
Spurgeon's  Gems.  Being  Brilliant  Passages  from 
the  Sermons  of  the  Kev.  C.  H.  SPUBGEON,  of  Lon- 
don. One  vol.,  12mo.  Price,  $1.50. 

"  The  Publishers  present  this  book  as  a  specimen  of  Mr. 
Spurgeon's  happiest  thoughts, — gems  from  his  discourses, — 
which  will  glow  in  the  mind  of  the  reader,  and  quicken  in 
him  a  desire  to  read  and  hear  more  of  this  remarkable  youth- 
ful preacher. 


STANDARD  AND   MISCELLANEOUS  BOOKS.         11 

jBunyan's  (Pilgrim's  'Progress  from  this  World 
to  that  which  is  to  come.  One  vol.,  12mo., 
Illustrated.  Price,  $1.50. 

IBunyan's  2?o2y  War.  One  vol.,  12mo.,  Illustrated. 
Price,  $1.50. 

"Each  of  the  books  has  six  full-page  Illustrations.  The 
type  is  large  and  clear,  and  they  are  altogether  the  cheapest 
and  best  editions  of  Banyan's  great  works  now  in  the  market. 

2~he  (Pastor's  JETandboofc.  Comprising  Selections 
of  Scripture,  arranged  for  various  occasions  of  Offi- 
cial Duty;  Select  Formulas  for  the  Marriage  Cere- 
mony, &c. ;  Rules  of  Order  for  Churches,  Ecclesias- 
tical and  other  Deliberative  Assemblies,  and  Tables 
for  Statistical  Eecord.  By  Eev.  W.  W.  EVERTS,  D.D. 
One  vol.,  18mo.  Price,  75  cts. 

!The  Baptist  Church  directory.  A  Guide  to 
the  Doctrines,  Discipline,  Officers,  Ordinances,  and 
Customs  of  Baptist  Churches.  Embracing  the 
questions  of  Baptism  and  Communion.  By  EDWARD 
T.  Hiscox,  D.D.  One  vol.,  16mo.  Price,  90  cts. 

Grace  2"ruman  /  or,  LOVE  AND  PRINCIPLE.  By  SAL- 
LIE  ROCHESTEB  FORD.  With  a  steel-plate  Portrait  of 
the  Authoress.  One  vol.,  12mo.  Price,  $1.50. 

ZBunyan,  THE  DREAMER'S  BLIND  DAUGHTER.  A 
Tale  of  Religious  Persecution.  By  Mrs.  S.  ROCH- 
ESTER FORD,  of  Louisville.  Illustrated.  One  voL, 
12mo.,  pp.  488.  Price,  $1.50. 

Young  (Parson.  One  voL,  12mo.  Price,  cloth, 
$1.50. 

"  There  is  a  rich  vein  of  genuine  humor  running  through 
the  work,  whilst  many  of  its  scenes  are  described  with  great 
tenderness  and  pathos.  It  is  a  pleasant  and  profitable  book, 
and  will  everywhere  find  readers." — Evangelical  Review, 


12         STANDARD  AND   MISCELLANEOUS  BOOKS. 


The  JBoofc  of  Nature.  An  Elementary  Introduc- 
tion to  the  sciences  of  Physics,  Astronomy,  Chem- 
istry, Mineralogy,  Geology,  Botany,  Zoology,  and 
Physiology,  by  F.  SCHOEDLEE,  PH.D.,  and  HENRY 
MEDLOCK.  One  vol.,  octavo.  Price,  $3.00. 

3Poems  of  Sorrow  and  Comfort.  Edited  by  Prof. 
FRANCIS  J.  CHILD,  editor  of  "The  British  Poets," 
"  The  English  and  Scottish  Ballads,"  &c.  One  vol., 
crown  octavo.  Price,  cloth,  gilt  top,  $1.  75  ;  morocco, 
$4.00. 


from  Jesus.  By  Rev.  W.  P.  BALFERN, 
author  of  "Glimpses  of  Jesus."  One  vol.,  16mo. 
Price,  $1.00. 

Cr2impses  Of  Jesus  /  or,  CHRIST  EXALTED  IN  THE 
AFFECTIONS  OF  His  PEOPLE.  By  Rev.  "W.  P.  BAL- 
FEBN, of  England.  16mo.,  pp.  267.  Price,  $1.00. 

The   Scripture   Text-Soote   and    Treasury. 

Forming  a  complete  Index  to  the  Doctrines,  Duties, 
and  Instructions  of  the  Sacred  Volume.  By  Rev. 
W.  W.  EVERTS,  D.D.  12mo.  Price,  $1.25. 

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cess in  Preaching  and  Teaching.  By  JOHN  DOWLING, 
D.D.  18mo.  Price,  38  cts. 


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